slum
Americannoun
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Often slums. a thickly populated, run-down, squalid part of a city, inhabited by poor people.
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any squalid, run-down place to live.
verb (used without object)
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to visit slums, especially from curiosity.
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to visit or frequent a place, group, or amusement spot considered to be low in social status.
noun
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a squalid overcrowded house, etc
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(often plural) a squalid section of a city, characterized by inferior living conditions and usually by overcrowding
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(modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of slums
slum conditions
verb
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to visit slums, esp for curiosity
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Also: slum it. to suffer conditions below those to which one is accustomed
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of slum
1805–15; compare earlier argot slum room; origin obscure
Explanation
A slum is a poor area of a big city. A slum is usually overcrowded and dirty, a discouraging place to live. Some of a city's neighborhoods are fancy and full of wealthy people, while others are slums (and most are somewhere in between). In a slum, most people are poor. The living conditions are inferior in a slum, which may not have the stores, restaurants, and health services its residents want or need. In the early 1800's, the term was back slum, which meant "back alley" or "street of poor people," and was eventually shortened to simply slum.
Vocabulary lists containing slum
Chapter 21: An Urban Society
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Society
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Thirst
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Vacharaesorn, who works at a law firm in New York, visited the Foundation for Slum Child Care, which is supported by the royal family, and greeted well-wishers.
From Reuters • Aug. 8, 2023
Joining those pieces is Chafin Seymour’s “Suite Donuts,” which features a mélange of music, from Erik Satie to the hip-hop group Slum Village.
From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2020
Slum golf is exactly what it sounds like: golf played in the narrow streets and alleyways of their informal community.
From The Guardian • Feb. 11, 2019
Victorian Slum House The 19th century challenges that were faced by families and individuals living in London’s East End are re-created in this new five-episode unscripted series.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2017
“J Dilla. Detroit legend. He died when I was little. I’m into the classics, but all Detroit, all day. Motown, J Dilla, Slum Village.”
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
