Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Slough?

\Slough\, a. Slow. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
\Slough\, n. [OE. slogh, slough, AS. sl[=o]h a hollow place; cf. MHG. sl[=u]ch an abyss, gullet, G. schlucken to swallow; also Gael. & Ir. sloc a pit, pool. ditch, Ir. slug to swallow. Gr. ????? to hiccough, to sob.] 1. A place of deep mud or mire; a hole full of mire. --Chaucer. He's here stuck in a slough. --Milton. 2. [Pronounced sl[=oo].] A wet place; a swale; a side channel or inlet from a river. Note: [In this sense local or provincial; also spelt {sloo}, and {slue}.] {Slough grass} (Bot.), a name in the Mississippi valley for grasses of the genus {Muhlenbergia}; -- called also {drop seed}, and {nimble Will}.
\Slough\, obs. imp. of {Slee}, to slay. Slew. --Chaucer.
\Slough\, n. [OE. slugh, slouh; cf. MHG. sl?ch the skin of a serpent, G. schlauch a skin, a leather bag or bottle.] 1. The skin, commonly the cast-off skin, of a serpent or of some similar animal. 2. (Med.) The dead mass separating from a foul sore; the dead part which separates from the living tissue in mortification.
\Slough\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Sloughed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sloughing}.] (Med.) To form a slough; to separate in the form of dead matter from the living tissues; -- often used with off, or away; as, a sloughing ulcer; the dead tissues slough off slowly.
\Slough\, v. t. To cast off; to discard as refuse. New tint the plumage of the birds, And slough decay from grazing herds. --Emerson.