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slump

 - 4 dictionary results

slump

  [sluhmp]
Use slump in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to drop or fall heavily; collapse: Suddenly she slumped to the floor.
2. to assume a slouching, bowed, or bent position or posture: Stand up straight and don't slump!
3. to decrease or fall suddenly and markedly, as prices or the market.
4. to decline or deteriorate, as health, business, quality, or efficiency.
5. to sink into a bog, muddy place, etc., or through ice or snow.
6. to sink heavily, as the spirits.
–noun
7. an act or instance of slumping.
8. a decrease, decline, or deterioration.
9. a period of decline or deterioration.
10. any mild recession in the economy as a whole or in a particular industry.
11. a period during which a person performs slowly, inefficiently, or ineffectively, esp. a period during which an athlete or team fails to play or score as well as usual.
12. a slouching, bowed, or bent position or posture, esp. of the shoulders.
13. a landslide or rockslide.
14. the vertical subsidence of freshly mixed concrete that is a measure of consistency and stiffness.
15. New England Cookery. a dessert made with cooked fruit, esp. apples or berries, topped with a thick layer of biscuit dough or crumbs.
Origin:
1670–80; orig., to sink into a bog or mud; perh. imit. (cf. plump 2 )

Synonyms:
8. lapse, reverse, setback.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To slump
grunt   (grŭnt)   
v.   grunt·ed, grunt·ing, grunts

v.   intr.

  1. To utter a deep guttural sound, as a hog does.

  2. To utter a sound similar to a grunt, as in disgust.

v.   tr.
To utter or express with a deep guttural sound: He merely grunted his approval.
n.  

  1. A deep guttural sound.

  2. Any of various chiefly tropical marine fishes of the family Haemulidae that, upon removal from the water, produce grunting sounds by rubbing together tooth plates in the throat.

  3. Slang An infantryman in the U.S. military, especially in the Vietnam War: "They were called grunts....They were the infantrymen, the foot soldiers of the war" (Bernard Edelman).

  4. Slang One who performs routine or mundane tasks.

  5. New England A dessert made by stewing fruit topped with pieces of biscuit dough, which steam as the fruit cooks. Also called slump.


[Middle English grunten, from Old English grunnettan; probably akin to grunnian, to make a loud noise, grunt, of imitative origin.]
grunt'er n., grunt'ing·ly adv.
slump   (slŭmp)   
intr.v.   slumped, slump·ing, slumps

  1. To fall or sink heavily; collapse: She slumped, exhausted, onto the sofa.

  2. To droop, as in sitting or standing; slouch.

    1. To decline suddenly; fall off: Business slumped after the holidays.

    2. To perform poorly or inadequately: The team has been slumping for a month.

    3. To sink or settle, as into mud or slush.

    4. To slide down or spread out thickly, as mud or fresh concrete.

    1. To sink or settle, as into mud or slush.

    2. To slide down or spread out thickly, as mud or fresh concrete.

n.  

  1. The act or an instance of slumping.

  2. A drooping or slouching posture: read defeat in the slump of his shoulders.

  3. A sudden falling off or decline, as in activity, prices, or business: a stock market slump; a slump in farm prices.

  4. An extended period of poor performance, especially in a sport or competitive activity: a slump in a batting average.

  5. See grunt.


[Probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian slumpa, to slump.]
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

slump  (v.)
1677, "fall or sink into a muddy place," probably from a Scand. source, cf. Norw. and Dan. slumpe "fall upon," Swed. slumpa; perhaps ultimately of imitative origin. The noun meaning "heavy decline in prices on the stock exchange" is from 1888; generalized to "sharp decline in trade or business" 1922.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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