slave

1 of 3

noun

ˈslāv 

plural slaves

1

: someone captured, sold, or born into chattel slavery see also slave driver, slaveholder, slave labor, slave owner, slave state, slave trade

Slaves … could be bought, sold, moved about, inherited, given away, insured, and used as collateral for all kinds of business transactions.

—Nell Irvin Painter

It is evident now, if it never was before, that the development and prosperity of the European colonies in the New World depended upon the labor of these millions of African slaves and their enslaved descendants.

—Gordon S. Wood

Our poor and forlorn brother whom thou has labelled "slave" is also a man. … God made him such, and his brother cannot unmake him.

—Henry Highland Garnet

Note: Though still frequently encountered in English, use of the term slave is diminishing relative to such descriptors as "enslaved people" or "the enslaved" when referring to African Americans who were subjected to chattel slavery. In addition to individuals and communities, many institutions—including but not limited to museums, national parks, universities, and media outlets—have updated their language to emphasize the humanity of individuals who were forced to labor for the profit of others under threat of violence, separation from family and friends, and death.

2

: someone (such as a factory worker or domestic laborer) who is coerced often under threat of violence to work for little or no pay

… garment workers who were detained by immigration authorities after a raid had found them being kept as slaves in an El Monte sweatshop.

—Melanie Mason

… the continuing scourge of human slaves being used in the supply chain at both a local and international level.

—Romy Hawatt

When people buy slaves today they don't ask for a receipt or ownership papers, but they do gain control—and they use violence to maintain this control.

—Kevin Bales

3

: someone held captive and forced to perform sexual acts usually under threat of violence and often for the purposes of commercial prostitution : sex slave

… women held as slaves by an Islamic State fighter are appealing to the UN to intervene in their case for compensation in a move lawyers hope will help fix a "lawless" global system that is failing torture survivors. … "We've got women who experienced sexual violence and violence generally …," said [Yasmin] Waljee [attorney].

—Kaamil Ahmed

I consider sex trafficking to be a grotesque, yet highly profitable, component of contemporary slavery. … I met hundreds of slaves during eight years of research in more than a dozen countries, and I met with the traffickers, slave owners, and other criminals who exploited them.

—Siddharth Kara

4

often disapproving : someone or something that is completely subservient to a dominating person or influence

a slave to fashion/technology

Markets are slaves of liquidity.

—Deepak Shenoy

… Americans are slaves to the clock, constantly watching our watches until the two hands line up in a specific way that tells us it's time to do something different.

—David Brown

see also wage slave

slave

2 of 3

verb

slaved; slaving; slaves

intransitive verb

1

: to work very hard for long hours or under difficult conditions : drudge

2

: to traffic in people to be sold into slavery

transitive verb

1

: to make directly responsive to another mechanism

2

archaic : enslave

slave

3 of 3

adjective

1

a

: of, relating to, involving, or used for slavery or enslaved people

slave traders

a slave auction

slave labor

a slave economy

The relation between freedom and literacy became the compelling theme of the slave narratives, the great body of printed books that ex-slaves generated to assert their common humanity with white Americans and to indict the system that had oppressed them.

—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

b

: held involuntarily and forced under threat of violence to work without pay for the profit of another : enslaved

born of slave parents

slave workers

The law very specifically withheld from a slave woman the rights of personhood and concomitant protection of the state.

—Catherine Clinton

c

: favoring or legally permitting slavery

a slave territory

the slave states

2

: operated by remote control

the device now tucked away behind the dials isn't properly a clockwork but a … slave unit activated by an electric clock inside the bank

—The New Yorker

specifically : responding to manipulation of the master controls of an apparatus

There's also provision for attaching external slave flash units for greater flash range when using print film.

—Herbert Keppler

… had the ultimate compact-disc system—a master machine and four optional slave machines—that will load and play 250 discs altogether …

—William D. Marbach

Synonyms

Noun

• servant
• bondsman
• bondman
• chattel

Verb

• labor
• struggle
• strive
• work

Examples of slave in a Sentence

Noun

He's a slave to fashion trends.

Do it yourself! I'm not your slave!

Verb

I slaved all morning to get the work done on time.

She's been slaving away at her homework.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The practice goes back to soon after the Civil War, when Congress ratified the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, in part to ensure that Black people, including former slaves, had citizenship. —Tim Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2025

The other was used by people descended from slaves brought from Southeast Asia to work for the Afrikaner farmers. —Carey Baraka, The Dial, 26 June 2025

Verb

The Swiss brand—ever the innovators—modified its automatic calibre 1030 by fitting it with an extra hour hand slaved to the local hour hand and placed this movement in an Oyster case. —Oren Hartov, Robb Report, 28 Mar. 2025

However, the worse the prison’s conditions become — as the workers are forced to slave away on secret Death Star parts with no promise of release — the more Kino is pushed to join Cassian and his brewing prisoner revolt. —Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025

Adjective

At a House hearing last month, Shelby Young of the Arizona Coalition for Change decried the proposal as a direct reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement and its protests against statutes dedicated to slave owners and pro-slave figures. —Bob Christie, ajc, 26 Mar. 2021

The measure helped spur a larger movement for ex-slave pensions and was later suppressed by federal agencies. —Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English sclave, from Anglo-French or Medieval Latin; Anglo-French esclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus, from Sclavus Slav; from the frequent enslavement of Slavs in central Europe during the early Middle Ages

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1559, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Adjective

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing slave

• sex slave
• slave driver
• slave holder
• slave labor
• slave laborer
• slave-making ant
• slave over a hot stove
• slave owner
• slave state
• slave trade
• wage slave
• white slave

Rhymes for slave

• brave
• cave
• clave
• crave
• fave
• gave
• grave
• knave
• lave
• nave
• pave
• rave

Kids Definition

slave

1 of 2 noun

ˈslāv 

1

: a person held in forced servitude

2

disapproving : a person who is completely subservient to a dominating influence

a slave to bad habits

3

: a person who performs difficult or boring work : drudge

slave adjective

slave

2 of 2 verb

slaved; slaving

: to work like a slave : drudge

Etymology

Noun

Middle English sclave "slave," from early French esclave (same meaning), derived from Latin Sclavus "Slav"

Word Origin

In the Middle Ages, Germanic people fought and raided other peoples, especially the Slavic peoples to the east. They took a great many captives there and sold them to be enslaved throughout Europe. Slavic people were so frequently forced into slavery that writers of the time used the Latin word for "Slav," Sclavus, to mean "a personal slave." The Latin word became sclave in Middle English and then slave in Modern English.

Geographical Definition

Slave

geographical name

ˈslāv 

river 258 miles (415 kilometers) long in Canada flowing from the western end of Lake Athabasca north into Great Slave Lake