SLOUGH

slough

(noun) any outer covering that can be shed or cast off (such as the cast-off skin of a snake)

slough

(noun) a stagnant swamp (especially as part of a bayou)

slough

(noun) a hollow filled with mud

gangrene, sphacelus, slough

(noun) necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass

shed, molt, exuviate, moult, slough

(verb) cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers; “our dog sheds every Spring”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Proper noun

Slough

A town in east Berkshire, England (formerly Buckinghamshire), close to Heathrow Airport.

A borough and unitary authority (Slough Borough Council) in Berkshire.

Anagrams

• Loughs, ghouls, loughs

Etymology 1

Noun

slough (countable and uncountable, plural sloughs)

The skin shed by a snake or other reptile.

Dead skin on a sore or ulcer.

Verb

slough (third-person singular simple present sloughs, present participle sloughing, simple past and past participle sloughed)

(transitive) To shed (skin).

(intransitive) To slide off (like a layer of skin).

(transitive, card games) To discard.

(intransitive, slang, Western US) To commit truancy, be absent from school without permission. (compare ditch)

Etymology 2

Noun

slough (plural sloughs)

(British) A muddy or marshy area.

(Western United States) A secondary channel of a river delta, usually flushed by the tide.

A state of depression.

(Canadian Prairies) A small pond, often alkaline, many but not all formed by glacial potholes.

Anagrams

• Loughs, ghouls, loughs

Source: Wiktionary


Slough, a.

Definition: Slow. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Slough, n. Etym: [OE. slogh, slough, AS. sloh a hollow place; cf. MHG. sluch an abyss, gullet, G. schlucken to swallow; also Gael. & Ir. sloc a pit, pool. ditch, Ir. slug to swallow. Gr.

1. A place of deep mud or mire; a hole full of mire. Chaucer. He's here stuck in a slough. Milton.

2. [Pronounced sloo.]

Definition: A wet place; a swale; a side channel or inlet from a river.

Note: [In this sense local or provincial; also spelt sloo, and slue.] Slough grass (Bot.), a name in the Mississippi valley for grasses of the genus Muhlenbergia; -- called also drop seed, and nimble Will.

Slough, obs.

Definition: imp. of Slee, to slay. Slew. Chaucer.

Slough, n. Etym: [OE. slugh, slouh; cf. MHG. sl the skin of a serpent, G. schlauch a skin, a leather bag or bottle.]

1. The skin, commonly the cast-off skin, of a serpent or of some similar animal.

2. (Med.)

Definition: The dead mass separating from a foul sore; the dead part which separates from the living tissue in mortification.

Slough, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sloughed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sloughing.] (Med.)

Definition: To form a slough; to separate in the form of dead matter from the living tissues; -- often used with off, or away; as, a sloughing ulcer; the dead tissues slough off slowly.

Slough, v. t.

Definition: To cast off; to discard as refuse. New tint the plumage of the birds, And slough decay from grazing herds. Emerson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

3 May 2025

DESIRABLE

(adjective) worth having or seeking or achieving; “a desirable job”; “computer with many desirable features”; “a desirable outcome”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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