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sloth

 - 3 dictionary results

sloth

  [slawth or, especially for 2, slohth]
Use sloth in a Sentence
–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, -th 1 ); r. OE slǣwth, deriv. of slǣw, var. of slāw slow

Synonyms:
1. shiftlessness, idleness, slackness.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sloth
sloth   (slôth, slōth, slŏth)   
n.  

  1. Aversion to work or exertion; laziness; indolence.

  2. 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.

  3. A company of bears. See Synonyms at flock1.


[Middle English slowth, from slow, slow; see slow.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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