slave

American  

[sleyv] / sleɪv /

noun

1. a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another and forced to provide unpaid labor.

2. a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person.

   She was a slave to her own ambition.

3. a drudge.

   a housekeeping slave.

4. a slave ant.

5. Photography. a subsidiary flash lamp actuated through its photoelectric cell when the principal flash lamp is discharged.

6. Machinery, Computers. a device or process under control of or repeating the actions of a similar device or process.

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verb (used without object)

slaved, slaving

1. to work like a slave; drudge.

   Synonyms:

   grind, slog, labor, toil

2. to engage in the slave trade; procure, transport, or sell slaves.

verb (used with object)

slaved, slaving

1. Machinery, Computers. to connect (a device) to a master as its slave.

2. Archaic. to enslave.

slave British  

/ sleɪv /

noun

1. a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action or right to property

2. a person who is forced to work for another against his will

3. a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence

   a slave to television

4. a person who works in harsh conditions for low pay

5. 1. a device that is controlled by or that duplicates the action of another similar device (the master device)

   2. ( as modifier )

      slave cylinder

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verb

1. to work like a slave

2. (tr) an archaic word for enslave

Other Word Forms

• proslave adjective
• semislave noun
• slaveless adjective
• slavelike adjective

Etymology

Origin of slave

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sclave (also slave ), from Old French escla(i)ve, and Medieval Latin sclāvus (masculine), sclāva (feminine) “slave,” special use of Sclāvus “Slavic, a Slav, slave” (Latin does not tolerate the consonant cluster sl- and employs the cluster scl- instead); so called because Slavs in Central Europe and the Balkans were commonly enslaved in the early Middle Ages; Slav

Example Sentences

It narrates the bittersweet adventures of the titular astronomer and his surveyor sidekick who carved the boundary separating slave states from free.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

From then on, the plantation system drove the expansion of slavery and the international slave trade, and eventually survived the demise of both.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Teffera added that nations who took part in the slave trade were still reluctant to confront their history and that a proper reckoning is a crucial part of restorative justice.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday designated the transatlantic African slave trade as "the gravest crime against humanity," despite opposition by the United States and some European countries.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

A year after he gained his freedom, Jennings is widely believed to have helped organize the largest attempted nonviolent slave escape in the United States, a plot that ultimately failed.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Related Words

• bond servant
• bondslave
• bondsman/woman
• captive
• chattel
• serf