slough

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈslü How to pronounce slough (audio)
ˈslau̇;
 in the US (except in New England)  is usual for sense 1 with those to whom the sense is familiar ˈslü;
 British usually  for both senses ˈslau̇
1
a
: a place of deep mud or mire
b or less commonly slew or slue
(1)
: swamp
(2)
: an inlet on a river
also : backwater
(3)
: a creek in a marsh or tide flat
2
: a state of moral degradation or spiritual dejection
sloughy
ˈslü-ē
ˈslau̇-ē How to pronounce slough (audio)
adjective

slough

2 of 4

verb (1)

sloughed; sloughing; sloughs

transitive verb

: to engulf in a slough

intransitive verb

: to plod through or as if through mud : slog

slough

3 of 4

noun (2)

variants or less commonly sluff
1
: the cast-off skin of a snake
2
: a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer
3
: something that may be shed or cast off

slough

4 of 4

verb (2)

variants or less commonly sluff
sloughed also sluffed; sloughing also sluffing; sloughs also sluffs

intransitive verb

1
a
: to become shed or cast off
b
: to cast off one's skin
c
: to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue
2
: to crumble slowly and fall away

transitive verb

1
: to cast off
2
a
: to get rid of or discard as irksome, objectionable, or disadvantageous
usually used with off
b
: to dispose of (a losing card in bridge) by discarding

Did you know?

There are two verbs spelled slough in English, as well as two nouns, and both sets have different pronunciations. The first noun, referring to a swamp or a discouraged state of mind, is pronounced to rhyme with either blue or cow. Its related verb, which can mean "to plod through mud," has the same pronunciation. The second noun, pronounced to rhyme with cuff, refers to the shed skin of a snake (as well as anything else that has been cast off). Its related verb describes the action of shedding or eliminating something, just like a snake sheds its skin. This slough comes from Middle English slughe and is related to slūch, a Middle High German word meaning "snakeskin."

Choose the Right Synonym for slough

discard, cast, shed, slough, scrap, junk mean to get rid of.

discard implies the letting go or throwing away of something that has become useless or superfluous though often not intrinsically valueless.

discard old clothes

cast, especially when used with off, away, or out, implies a forceful rejection or repudiation.

cast off her friends

shed and slough imply a throwing off of something both useless and encumbering and often suggest a consequent renewal of vitality or luster.

shed a bad habit
finally sloughed off the depression

scrap and junk imply throwing away or breaking up as worthless in existent form.

scrap all the old ways
would junk our educational system

Examples of slough in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Cloud computing was becoming the new profit frontier for corporations such as Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and Google, which had sloughed off the moral qualms of the Maven episode to bid for a slice of the $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract. Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 20 Jan. 2024 Ulta is doing a buy more save more promo on body care products that will slough off dry winter skin and rehydrate you from head to toe. Nicola Fumo, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024 Dry Brushing Both experts say that dry brushing, the physical exfoliant that sloughs away dead skin cells, can be beneficial to keeping strawberry legs at bay. Audrey Noble, Vogue, 19 Nov. 2023 Formulated with a blend of brown sugar, shea butter, and jojoba oil, this lip scrub gently sloughs away dead skin while also nourishing and softening the pout. Jessie Quinn, Peoplemag, 4 Feb. 2024 The sudden drop in progesterone and estrogen causes the uterine lining to slough off, and menstruation follows. Laura Kolbe, The New York Review of Books, 18 Jan. 2024 Centuries later, the primary hypothesis is that some combination of oral disturbances prevents the tongue's top layer from completing its normal cycles of sloughing off old cells—aka defective desquamation. Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 7 July 2023 The new threat posed by running afoul of jurisprudential anti-discrimination precedent in combination with the belt-tightening demanded by an economic environment distorted by inflation saw the mass sloughing off of DEI professionals. Noah Rothman, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023 The utility of corpses—their ability to speak or stay quiet long after their flesh has sloughed off—is the subject of the former FBI forensic artist Lisa Bailey’s memoir, Clay and Bones (Chicago Review Press, $28.99). Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 9 Jan. 2024
Noun
In winter and spring, when the snow melts and the rain pours, water rushes through its sloughs and streams, winding around more than 200 small islands on a path to the Golden Gate and, eventually, the Pacific Ocean. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024 Forty miles of hiking paths wind through nine different ecosystems, including bayous and pine forests, while paddling trails take you through cypress sloughs and oxbow lakes. Amanda Ogle, Travel + Leisure, 25 Jan. 2024 Explore a white-sand beach and the sinks, swales, and sloughs found within the 2,500-acre Suwannee River Water Management District. Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 10 Oct. 2023 The old slide said the agency would remove all of the slough plugs between the Black River and tributary channels and sloughs. Bryan Hendricks, arkansasonline.com, 10 Dec. 2023 The Park Service poisoned the slough again in late August, but that fix is clearly neither complete nor lasting. WIRED, 4 Nov. 2023 What’s there: The 85-acre property along the Columbia and Whittaker sloughs was at imminent risk of development, prompting the city of Portland and the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District to buy it in 2014 for $5 million. Gwozniac, oregonlive, 30 July 2023 The slough of Mardenborough's despond comes towards the end of the film when a crash at the Nürburgring results in the death of a spectator. Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 11 Aug. 2023 Pixi's Glow Tonic sloughs away dead skin and brightens scars using five percent glycolic acid. Nerisha Penrose, ELLE, 28 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slough.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English sloughe, slo, from Old English slōh; akin to Middle High German slouche ditch

Noun (2)

Middle English slughe; akin to Middle High German slūch snakeskin

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

1846, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1720, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of slough was before the 12th century

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Dictionary Entries Near slough

Cite this Entry

“Slough.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slough. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

slough

1 of 3 noun
ˈslü How to pronounce slough (audio)
ˈslau̇;
 in the U.S.  (except New England) ˈslü,
 is usual for sense 1;  ˈslau̇,
 is more frequent for sense 2 
1
also slew or slue
ˈslü
: a wet and marshy or muddy place (as a swamp or backwater)
2
: a discouraged, degraded, or hopeless state

slough

2 of 3 noun
ˈsləf
variants also sluff
1
: the cast-off skin of a snake
2
: a mass of dead tissue separating from living tissue
3
: something that may be shed or cast off

slough

3 of 3 verb
variants also sluff
1
a
: to cast off or become cast off
b
: to cast off one's skin
c
: to separate dead tissue from living tissue
d
: to get rid of or discard as bothersome, objectionable, or not to one's advantage
2
: to crumble slowly and fall away
Etymology

Noun

Old English slōh "swamp"

Noun

Middle English slughe "the cast-off skin of a snake"

Medical Definition

slough

1 of 2 noun
: dead tissue separating from living tissue
especially : a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer

slough

2 of 2 intransitive verb
: to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue
dermal sloughing

transitive verb

: to cast off
slough dead tissue
the uterine lining is sloughed

Geographical Definition

Slough

geographical name

town in Berkshire, southeast central England, west of London population 155,000

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