slough

or sluff

[sluhf]

noun

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.

verb (used without object)

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.

verb (used with object)

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).

Verb Phrases

slough over, to treat as slight or trivial: to slough over a friend's mistake.

Origin of slough

1250–1300; Middle English slughe, slouh skin of a snake; cognate with German Schlauch skin, bag

Related formsslough·i·ness, nounslough·y, adjectiveun·sloughed, adjectiveun·slough·ing, adjective

Synonyms for slough

6. molt.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sloughing

marshland, fen, mire, glade, quagmire, mud, moor, marsh, swampland, bog, quag, morass, swale, polder, wetland, exuviate, give, molt, sprinkle, slip

Examples from the Web for sloughing

Contemporary Examples of sloughing

But she does offer a brief reprieve for those nostalgic for a cultural era that appears to be sloughing away before our eyes.
The Book on Aging Rockers
Jane Ciabattari
June 29, 2010

Historical Examples of sloughing

He didn't know how much would stand when the sloughing ended.
Prairie Folks
Hamlin Garland
The sloughing off of the veneer of civilisation was not rapid, but it was sure.
In Our Town
William Allen White
Tripoli, like other towns oh these shores, looks as though it were sloughing away.
Old Junk
H. M. Tomlinson
Mankind are sloughing off the Old Theologies, and coming up higher.
God
T. D. Curtis
Inflammation may be accompanied by sloughing or death of tissues.
Surgery, with Special Reference to Podiatry
Maximilian Stern

British Dictionary definitions for sloughing

Slough

noun

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)

slough

noun

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

Derived Formssloughy, adjective

Word Origin for slough

Old English slōh; related to Middle High German sluoche ditch, Swedish slaga swamp

slough

noun

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

verb

(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)

Derived Formssloughy, adjective

Word Origin for slough

C13: of Germanic origin; compare Middle Low German slū husk, German Schlauch hose, Norwegian slō fleshy part of a horn

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

Word Origin and History for sloughing

slough

n.1

"muddy place," Old English sloh "soft, muddy ground," of uncertain origin. Cf. Middle Low German sloch "muddy place," Middle High German sluoche "ditch." Figurative use (e.g. of moral sunkenness or Bunyan's "Slough of Despond," 1678) attested from mid-13c.

slough

"to cast off" (as the skin of a snake or other animal), 1720, originally of diseased tissue, from Middle English noun slough "shed skin of a snake" (see slough (n.)). Related: Sloughed; sloughing.

slough

n.2

"cast-off skin" (of a snake or other animal), early 14c., slughe, slouh, probably related to Old Saxon sluk "skin of a snake," Middle High German sluch "snakeskin, wineskin," Middle Low German slu "husk, peel, skin," German Schlauch "wineskin;" from Proto-Germanic *sluk-, of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE root *sleug- "to glide."

sloughing in Medicine