The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
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
Slough
A town in east Berkshire, England (formerly Buckinghamshire), close to Heathrow Airport.
A borough and unitary authority (Slough Borough Council) in Berkshire.
• Loughs, ghouls, loughs
slough (countable and uncountable, plural sloughs)
The skin shed by a snake or other reptile.
Dead skin on a sore or ulcer.
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)
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.
• 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
22 January 2025
(noun) memorial consisting of a very large stone forming part of a prehistoric structure (especially in western Europe)
The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.