Sloth definition |Dictionary.com

Sloth

7 dictionary results for: Sloth

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sloth

[slawth or, esp. for 2, slohth] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	habitual disinclination to exertion; indolence; laziness.

2.	any of several slow-moving, arboreal, tropical American edentates of the family Bradypodidae, having a long, coarse, grayish-brown coat often of a greenish cast caused by algae, and long, hooklike claws used in gripping tree branches while hanging or moving along in a habitual upside-down position.

3.	a pack or group of bears.

[Origin: 1125–75; ME slowth (see slow, -th¹); r. OE slǣwth, deriv. of slǣw, var. of slāw slow

]

—Synonyms 1. shiftlessness, idleness, slackness.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sloth (slôth, slōth, slŏth) Pronunciation Key
n.

Aversion to work or exertion; laziness; indolence.
Any of various slow-moving, arboreal, edentate mammals of the family Bradypodidae of South and Central America, having long hooklike claws by which they hang upside down from tree branches and feeding on leaves, buds, and fruits, especially:
1. A member of the genus Bradypus, having three long-clawed toes on each forefoot. Also called ai¹, three-toed sloth.
2. A member of the genus Choloepus, having two toes on each forefoot. Also called two-toed sloth, unau.
A company of bears. See Synonyms at flock¹.

[Middle English slowth, from slow, slow; see slow.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sloth

c.1175, "indolence, sluggishness," formed from M.E. slou, slowe (see slow); replacing O.E. slæwð. Sense of "slowness, tardiness" is from c.1380. As one of the deadly sins, it translates L. accidia. The slow-moving mammal first so called 1613, a translation of Port. preguiça, from L. pigritia "laziness" (cf. Sp. perezosa "slothful," also "the sloth").

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

sloth
noun
1.	a disinclination to work or exert yourself
2.	any of several slow-moving arboreal mammals of South America and Central America; they hang from branches back downward and feed on leaves and fruits
3.	apathy and inactivity in the practice of virtue (personified as one of the deadly sins)

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sloth

A"i\, n.; pl. Ais. [Braz. a["i], ha["i], from the animal's cry: cf. F. a["i].] (Zo["o]l.) The three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus) of South America. See Sloth.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sloth

In"dus*try\, n.; pl. Industries. [L. industria, cf. industrius diligent; of uncertain origin: cf. F. industrie.]

1. Habitual diligence in any employment or pursuit, either bodily or mental; steady attention to business; assiduity; -- opposed to sloth and idleness; as, industry pays debts, while idleness or despair will increase them.

We are more industrious than our forefathers, because in the present times the funds destined for the maintenance of industry are much greater in proportion to those which are likely to be employed in the maintenance of idleness, than they were two or three centuries ago. --A. Smith.

2. Any department or branch of art, occupation, or business; especially, one which employs much labor and capital and is a distinct branch of trade; as, the sugar industry; the iron industry; the cotton industry.

3. (Polit. Econ.) Human exertion of any kind employed for the creation of value, and regarded by some as a species of capital or wealth; labor.

Syn: Diligence; assiduity; perseverance; activity; laboriousness; attention. See Diligence.

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