slough
1or sluff
the outer layer of the skin of a snake, which is cast off periodically.
Pathology. a mass or layer of dead tissue separated from the surrounding or underlying tissue.
anything that is shed or cast off.
Cards. a discard.
to be or become shed or cast off, as the slough of a snake.
to cast off a slough.
Pathology. to separate from the sound flesh, as a slough.
Cards. to discard a card or cards.
to dispose or get rid of; cast (often followed by off): to slough off a bad habit.
to shed as or like a slough.
Cards. to discard (cards).
slough over, to treat as slight or trivial: to slough over a friend's mistake.
Origin of slough
1Other words for slough
Other words from slough
- slough·i·ness, noun
- sloughy, adjective
- un·sloughed, adjective
- un·slough·ing, adjective
Other definitions for slough (2 of 2)
an area of soft, muddy ground; swamp or swamplike region.
a hole full of mire, as in a road.
Also slew, slue .Northern U.S. and Canadian. a marshy or reedy pool, pond, inlet, backwater, or the like.
a condition of degradation, despair, or helplessness.
Origin of slough
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use slough in a sentence
Again, he sloughed off the blame onto his staff, playing for sympathy for being "betrayed."
We got sloughed once to-day, and had to carry our loads on our backs.
Journal of a Trip to California by the Overland Route Across the Plains in 1850-51 | E. S. (Eleazer Stillman) IngallsSubsequently, one of the small arteries sloughed off; an incision was made, and it was taken up.
Nurse and Spy in the Union Army | S. Emma E. EdmondsEvidently the snake had just sloughed an old skin, for the sunlight gleamed iridescent on the shining jet scales.
Roof and Meadow | Dallas Lore SharpA small spot, as large as a ten cent piece, has sloughed, making a hole into the pouch over the lower lumbar vertebra.
Report on Surgery to the Santa Clara County Medical Society | Joseph Bradford Cox
Had I put them in hot water, I should in all probability have lost my fingers and toes; they p. 61would have sloughed off.
A Night in the Snow | Rev. E. Donald Carr
British Dictionary definitions for slough (1 of 3)
/ (slaʊ) /
a hollow filled with mud; bog
(sluː) US and Canadian
(in the prairies) a large hole where water collects or the water in such a hole
(in the northwest) a sluggish side channel of a river
(on the Pacific coast) a marshy saltwater inlet
despair or degradation
Origin of slough
1Derived forms of slough
- sloughy, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for slough (2 of 3)
/ (slʌf) /
any outer covering that is shed, such as the dead outer layer of the skin of a snake, the cellular debris in a wound, etc
Also: sluff bridge a discarded card
(often foll by off) to shed (a skin, etc) or (of a skin, etc) to be shed
Also: sluff bridge to discard (a card or cards)
Origin of slough
2Derived forms of slough
- sloughy, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for Slough (3 of 3)
/ (slaʊ) /
an industrial town in SE central England, in Slough unitary authority, Berkshire; food products, high-tech industries. Pop: 126 276 (2001)
a unitary authority in SE central England, in Berkshire. Pop: 118 800 (2003 est). Area: 28 sq km (11 sq miles)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for slough
[ slŭf ]
The dead outer skin shed by a reptile or an amphibian.
To shed an outer layer of skin.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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