slough
pronunciation
How to pronounce slough in British English:
UK [slaʊ]
How to pronounce slough in American English:
US [slaʊ]
-
- Noun:
- necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass
- a hollow filled with mud
- a stagnant swamp (especially as part of a bayou)
- any outer covering that can be shed or cast off (such as the cast-off skin of a snake)
-
- Verb:
- cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers
Word Origin
- slough (n.1)
- "muddy place," Old English sloh "soft, muddy ground," of uncertain origin. Compare Middle Low German sloch "muddy place," Middle High German sluoche "ditch." Figurative use (of moral sunkenness or Bunyan's "Slough of Despond," 1678) attested from mid-13c.
- slough (v.)
- "to cast off" (as the skin of a snake or other animal), 1720, originally of diseased tissue, from Middle English noun slough "shed skin of a snake" (see slough (n.)). Related: Sloughed; sloughing.
- slough (n.2)
- "cast-off skin" (of a snake or other animal), early 14c., slughe, slouh, probably related to Old Saxon sluk "skin of a snake," Middle High German sluch "snakeskin, wineskin," Middle Low German slu "husk, peel, skin," German Schlauch "wineskin;" from Proto-Germanic *sluk-, of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE root *sleug- "to glide."
Example
- 1. In the green firmament of a slough , galaxies of duckweed are stirred by slow moving waters .
- 2. But even by their usual gloomy standards , britons seem to have got themselves into a slough of despond of late .
- 3. Zdziko is one of dozens of migrants to slough whom the economic downturn has made homeless .
- 4. The council thinks slough has 3500 hmos , with at least 17500 mostly immigrant tenants , and is trying to identify them all .
- 5. The " tan " lasts until these skin cells slough off , so exfoliating or vigorously washing will make the color fade faster .