slough definition | Dictionary.com

slough

1 [slou for 1, 2, 4; sloo for 3]

–noun

1.	an area of soft, muddy ground; swamp or swamplike region.

2.	a hole full of mire, as in a road.

3.	Also, slew, slue. Northern U.S. and Canadian. a marshy or reedy pool, pond, inlet, backwater, or the like.

4.	a condition of degradation, despair, or helplessness.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE slōh; c. MLG slōch, MHG sluoche ditch

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slough

2 [sluhf]

–noun

1.	the outer layer of the skin of a snake, which is cast off periodically.

2.	Pathology. a mass or layer of dead tissue separated from the surrounding or underlying tissue.

3.	anything that is shed or cast off.

4.	Cards. a discard.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to be or become shed or cast off, as the slough of a snake.

6.	to cast off a slough.

7.	Pathology. to separate from the sound flesh, as a slough.

8.	Cards. to discard a card or cards.

–verb (used with object)

9.	to dispose or get rid of; cast (often fol. by off): to slough off a bad habit.

10.	to shed as or like a slough.

11.	Cards. to discard (cards).

—Verb phrase

12.	slough over, to treat as slight or trivial: to slough over a friend's mistake.

Also, sluff.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME slughe, slouh skin of a snake; c. G Schlauch skin, bag

Related forms:

slough⋅i⋅ness, noun

sloughy, adjective

Synonyms:
6. molt.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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slough¹ (slōō, slou)

A depression or hollow, usually filled with deep mud or mire.
also slue A stagnant swamp, marsh, bog, or pond, especially as part of a bayou, inlet, or backwater.
A state of deep despair or moral degradation.

[Middle English, from Old English slōh.]
slough'y adj.

slough² (slŭf)

The dead outer skin shed by a reptile or amphibian.
Medicine A layer or mass of dead tissue separated from surrounding living tissue, as in a wound, sore, or inflammation.
An outer layer or covering that is shed.

v. sloughed, slough·ing, sloughs

v. intr.

To be cast off or shed; come off: The snake's skin sloughs off.
To shed a slough.
Medicine To separate from surrounding living tissue. Used of dead tissue.

v. tr.
To discard as undesirable or unfavorable; get rid of: slough off former associates.

[Middle English slughe.]

Slough (slou)

A borough of southeast England, a residential and industrial suburb of London. Population: 126,000.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Slough

Slough\, a. Slow. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Slough

Slough\, n. [OE. slogh, slough, AS. sl[=o]h a hollow place; cf. MHG. sl[=u]ch an abyss, gullet, G. schlucken to swallow; also Gael. & Ir. sloc a pit, pool. ditch, Ir. slug to swallow. Gr. ????? to hiccough, to sob.]

1. A place of deep mud or mire; a hole full of mire. --Chaucer.

He's here stuck in a slough. --Milton.

2. [Pronounced sl[=oo].] 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

Slough\, obs. imp. of Slee, to slay. Slew. --Chaucer.

Slough

Slough\, n. [OE. slugh, slouh; cf. MHG. sl?ch 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.) The dead mass separating from a foul sore; the dead part which separates from the living tissue in mortification.

Slough

Slough\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sloughed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sloughing.] (Med.) 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

Slough\, v. t. To cast off; to discard as refuse.

New tint the plumage of the birds, And slough decay from grazing herds. --Emerson.

slough (n.)

"muddy place," O.E. sloh "muddy place," probably from P.Gmc. *slokhaz.

slough (v.)

"cast off" (as the skin of a snake or other animal), 1720, originally of diseased tissue, from M.E. noun meaning the skin thus cast off (c.1300), probably related to O.S. sluk "skin of a snake," M.H.G. sluch "snakeskin," M.L.G. slu "husk, peel, skin," from P.Gmc. *sluk-.

Main Entry: ¹slough
Pronunciation: 'sl&f
Function: noun
: dead tissue separating from living tissue; especially : a mass ofdead tissue separating from an ulcer

Main Entry: ²slough
Function: intransitive verb
: to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue sloughing> sloughtransitive senses
: to cast off <slough dead tissue> sloughed>

slough (slŭf)
n.
A layer or mass of dead tissue separated from surrounding living tissue, as in a wound, a sore, or an inflammation. v. sloughed, slough·ing, sloughs
To separate from surrounding living tissue. Used of dead tissue.

slough   (slŭf) Pronunciation Key
Noun   The dead outer skin shed by a reptile or an amphibian.

Verb   To shed an outer layer of skin.

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