slag
pronunciation
How to pronounce slag in British English:
UK [slæɡ]
How to pronounce slag in American English:
US [slæɡ]
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- Noun:
- the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals
Word Origin
- slag (n.)
- "refuse from smelting," 1550s, from Middle Low German slagge (German Schlacke) "splinter flying off when metal is struck," related to Old High German slahan "to strike, slay" (see slay (v.)).
- slag (v.)
- "denigrate," by 1971, from slag (n.) in a secondary sense of "worthless person" (1788). Related: Slagged; slagging.
Example
- 1. The slag heaps hold massive dumps of crushed rock discarded after gold extraction .
- 2. On the opposite side of the slag piles from soccer city is diepkloof , one of several settlements comprising soweto .
- 3. She wondered whether these things might be true of brick clay and waelz slag , and she began experimenting .
- 4. The cost , too , fell , because slag is free , whereas clay costs money .
- 5. The mashed potato of the future is an inky mountain of mystery . It sits on the plate like a slag heap , or the ashes of an apocalyptic disaster .