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

In December 1862 the Confederacy’s president, Jefferson Davis, announced that captured black Union soldiers would be dealt with according to state laws for the punishment of slave insurrections.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ivory Coast has done little to preserve the memory of the transatlantic slave trade.

From Barron's

In a song where vanity means being a “slave to makeup,” appearing willfully feminine might as well mean handing over your free will.

From Salon

As the chefs slave over their pots, five judges patrol the aisles with clipboards, making notes on their recipes and techniques.

From Barron's

After being controlled by the French, who brought in slaves from Madagascar and elsewhere to work coconut plantations, it was taken over by the British after the Napoleonic wars.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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