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slough¹

(sl, slou) also slew (sl)

1. A depression or hollow, usually filled with deep mud or mire.

2. also slue A swamp, marsh, bog, or pond, especially as part of a bayou, inlet, or backwater.

3. A state of deep despair or moral degradation.

[Middle English, from Old English slōh.]

sloughy adj.

slough ²

(slŭf)

1. The dead outer skin shed by a reptile or amphibian.

2. Medicine A layer or mass of dead tissue separated from surrounding living tissue, as in a wound, sore, or inflammation.

3. An outer layer or covering that is shed or removed.

v. sloughed, slough·ing, sloughs

v.intr.

1. To be cast off or shed; come off: "smooth fallen branches from which all bark has sloughed" (David M. Carroll).

2. To shed a slough: every time that a snake sloughs.

3. Medicine To separate from surrounding living tissue. Used of dead tissue.

v.tr.

1. To cast off or shed (skin or a covering): came inside and sloughed off his coat.

2. To discard or disregard as undesirable or unfavorable: sloughed off her misgivings.

Phrasal Verb:

slough off

Slang To work less intensely than is required or expected.

[Middle English slughe; akin to Middle High German slūch, sluoch , sloughed off snake skin (Modern German Schlauch, hose, tire tube).]

Slough

(slou)

A borough of southeast England, a residential and industrial suburb of London.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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