slush

American  

[sluhsh] / slʌʃ /

noun

1. partly melted snow.

2. liquid mud; watery mire.

3. waste, as fat, grease, or other refuse, from the galley of a ship.

4. a mixture of grease and other materials for lubricating.

5. silly, sentimental, or weakly emotional talk or writing.

   romantic slush.

6. slush pile.

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verb (used with object)

• slushes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slushed,
  past participle,  past
• slushing
  present participle

1. to splash with slush.

2. to grease, polish, or cover with slush.

3. to fill or cover with mortar or cement.

4. to wash with a large quantity of water, as by dashing it on.

slush British  

/ slʌʃ /

noun

1. any watery muddy substance, esp melting snow

2. informal sloppily sentimental language

3. nautical waste fat from the galley of a ship

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verb

1. to make one's way through or as if through slush

2. (intr) to make a slushing sound

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• slushing
  present
• slushed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• slush
  simple
• slushes
  simple
• have slushed
  perfect
• has slushed
  perfect
• am slushing
  progressive
• are slushing
  progressive
• is slushing
  progressive
• have been slushing
  perfect progressive
• has been slushing
  perfect progressive

Past

• slushed
  simple
• had slushed
  perfect
• was slushing
  progressive
• were slushing
  progressive
• had been slushing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will slush
  simple
• will have slushed
  perfect
• will be slushing
  progressive
• will have been slushing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of slush

1635–45; apparently cognate with Norwegian slusk slops, Swedish slask mud, slops

Explanation

Slush is messy melted snow, a mixture of ice and water. If you forget to wear your waterproof boots, you'll want to watch out for the slush as you walk through the city in February. Slush forms when snow melts slightly, leaving behind a substance that's similar to snow, but wetter. A sweet, icy drink is also a slush or a slushy, while a "slush pile" is a heap of manuscripts and letters that are sent, unsolicited, to a publisher. And a "slush fund" is either an extra, backup bank account, or a secret one full of illegally obtained money. One thing is for sure: slush is messy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slush slushes slushed slushing

But the Supreme Court overturned the verdict last year, ruling that the slush funds were illegally obtained and could not be considered as part of the couple's assets.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The court's original 2024 ruling ordering the payout to Roh cited a 30 billion won slush fund her ex-president father used to propel SK Group's growth.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

And since no one wants to ski on ice or slush, artificial snow will be used.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026

It is not known whether any of them have been foolish enough to pony up the $1 billion initiation fee—nor has Trump or anyone else said who would control this slush fund.

From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2026

The Woolworth’s has old wooden floors, stained from years of winter slush on people’s boots, and dim overhead lights that hang down from the ceiling on metal stems.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

In 2023, McDonald’s launched a new restaurant concept called CosMc’s that served lattes, frappes, slushes and other novelty drinks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

They’ll slice up bluefin tuna as reddish ice slushes into a drain in the floor.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 25, 2023

The last is two blocks from Dairy Lodge — established 1958 — with soft-serve sundaes, slushes and, of course, a cherry-pie flurry.

From New York Times ● Jul. 26, 2018

Arizona Cardinals The day after the Cardinals win, drinks and slushes are half price at Sonic restaurants in the Phoenix area.

From Time ● Sep. 20, 2015

We keep walking until the water and dirt and mud slushes right up to our shins.

From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender

The government watchdog said slushed ice drinks containing glycerol - a type of sweetener - were unsafe for young children, and consumption of them should be limited for children aged between seven and 10.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2025

When the bathrooms began flooding, the manager decided the night was canceled, and fans begrudgingly slushed their way out.

From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2020

In the final kilometer, Tewalt slushed through puddles and mud to finish in 16:28.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 3, 2018

The farmers market, which operates year-round in a dedicated, enclosed building, offered fresh produce, live music, slushed lemonade, and — the boys’ pick — sweet cinnamon rolls from Cloud Cliff Bakery.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2018

It was as though the season had exhausted itself, for on January first the temperature shot up to sixty-one degrees and slushed the whiteness overnight.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

“For 10 years we protested on the water, right here,” Tommaso Cacciari, a spokesman for the No Big Ships committee said, pointing at the slushing canal.

From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2021

Is there some sort of conflict of interest slushing beneath this piece, like a frozen river of bias?

From The Verge ● Jul. 28, 2015

Last week Florida's 1,400,000 head of Brahmas, Santa Gertrudis, Herefords and Aberdeen-Anguses were so weakened by malnutrition and weeks of slushing around in soggy pastures that cattlemen feared deaths would reach 270,000.

From Time Magazine Archive

British Leyland's "slushing," as the Daily Mail told it, amounted to $19.4 million in the 1975-76 financial year and is estimated at $42.5 million for 1977-78.

From Time Magazine Archive

The icy mud sent little thrills of pain up their legs, so they ran, splashing through the puddles and slushing in the mud.

From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson

Related Words

• mud