sl -abbr

  1. slightly
  2. slip
  3. slow

SL -abbr

  1. sea level

slab ['slab] -n, adj

  1. : a thick plate or slice (as of stone, wood, or bread): as
  2. the outside piece cut from a log in squaring it
  3. concrete pavement (as of a road)
  4. a strip of concrete pavement laid as a single unjointed piece
  5. a flat rectangular architectural element that is usu. formed of a single piece or mass
    • a concrete foundation slab
  6. a rectangular building having little width with respect to its length and usu. height
  7. something that resembles a slab (as in size, shape, or density)
    • backed up by a solid slab of reference material -- Times Lit. Supp.
  8. to remove an outer slab from (as a log)
  9. to divide or form into slabs
  10. to cover or support (as a roadbed or roof) with slabs
  11. to put on thickly
  12. thick, viscous

slabsid·ed ['slab-'sī-dəd] -adj

  1. having flat sides
  2. being tall or long and lank

slack ['slak] -adj, adv, n

  1. not using due diligence, care, or dispatch : negligent
  2. characterized by slowness, sluggishness, or lack of energy
    • a slack pace
  3. moderate in some quality
  4. moderately warm
    • a slack oven
  5. blowing or flowing at low speed
    • the tide was slack
  6. not tight or taut
    • a slack rope
  7. lacking in usual or normal firmness and steadiness : weak
    • slack muscles
    • slack supervision
  8. wanting in activity : dull
    • a slack market
  9. lacking in completeness, finish, or perfection
    • a very slack piece of work
  10. to be or become slack
  11. to shirk or evade work or duty
  12. to be slack or negligent in performing or doing
  13. lessen, moderate
  14. to release tension on : loosen
  15. to cause to abate
  16. slake
  17. cessation in movement or flow
  18. a part of something that hangs loose without strain
    • take up the slack of a rope
  19. trousers esp. for casual wear usu. used in pl.
  20. a dull season or period
  21. a part that is available but not used
    • some slack in the budget
  22. a portion (as of labor or resources) that is required but lacking
    • hired a temp to take up the slack
  23. additional leeway or relief from pressure usu. used with cut
    • refused to cut me some slack on the schedule
  24. a pass between hills
  25. the finest screenings of coal produced at a mine unusable as fuel unless cleaned

slack·en ['sla-kən] -vb

  1. to make less active : slow up
    • slacken speed at a crossing
  2. to make slack (as by lessening tension or firmness)
    • slacken sail
  3. to become slack or slow or negligent : slow down
  4. to become less active : slack

slack·er ['sla-kər] -n, adj

  1. a person who shirks work or obligation
  2. one who evades military service in time of war
  3. a person and esp. a young person who is perceived to be disaffected, apathetic, cynical, or lacking ambition

slack water -n

  1. the period at the turn of the tide when there is little or no horizontal motion of tidal water called also slack tide

slag ['slag] -n

  1. the dross or scoria of a metal
  2. a lewd or promiscuous woman
  3. to criticize harshly

slain ['slā] -vb, n

(variant of slay)

  1. to kill violently, wantonly, or in great numbers
  2. to strike down : kill
  3. to delight or amuse immensely
    • slay ed the audience
  4. kill, murder

slake ['slāk, vi 2 & vt 3 are also 'slak] -vb

  1. subside, abate
  2. to become slaked : crumble
    • lime may slake spontaneously in moist air
  3. to lessen the force of : moderate
  4. satisfy, quench
    • slake your thirst
    • will slake your curiosity
  5. to cause (as lime) to heat and crumble by treatment with water : hydrate

sla·lom ['slä-ləm] -n

  1. skiing in a zigzag or wavy course between upright obstacles (as flags)
  2. a timed race (as on skis or in an automobile or kayak) over a winding or zigzag course past a series of flags or markers
  3. movement over a zigzag route

slalom -vi

  1. to move over a zigzag course in or as if in a slalom

slam ['slam] -n

  1. grand slam
  2. little slam
  3. a heavy blow or impact
  4. a noisy violent closing
  5. a banging noise
  6. one made by the slam of a door
  7. a cutting or violent criticism
  8. slammer
  9. a poetry competition performed before judges
  10. to strike or beat hard : knock
  11. to shut forcibly and noisily : bang
  12. to set or slap down violently or noisily
    • slammed down the phone
  13. to propel, thrust, or produce by or as if by striking hard
    • slam on the brakes
    • slammed the car into a wall
  14. to criticize harshly
  15. to make a banging noise
  16. to function (as in moving) with emphatic and usu. noisy vigor
    • the hurricane slammed into the coast
    • slammed out of the room
  17. to utter verbal abuse or harsh criticism

slambang ['slam-'baŋ] -adj

  1. unduly loud or violent
    • a slambang clatter
  2. having fast-paced often nonstop action
    • a slambang adventure novel
  3. vigorously enthusiastic
    • made a slambang effort to win

slam dunk -n, vb

  1. dunk shot
  2. sure thing
    • the case is a slam dunk

slam·mer ['sla-mər] -n

  1. jail, prison

slan·der ['slan-dər] -vt, n

  1. to utter slander against : defame

slander [-d(ə-)rəs] -n, adj, adv

  1. the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation
  2. a false and defamatory oral statement about a person

slang ['slaŋ] -n, adj, adv

  1. : language peculiar to a particular group: as
  2. argot
  3. jargon
  4. an informal nonstandard vocabulary composed typically of coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant, forced, or facetious figures of speech
  5. to use slang or vulgar abuse
  6. to abuse with harsh or coarse language

slanging match -n

  1. a heated exchange of abuse

slan·guage ['slaŋ-gwij] -n

  1. slangy speech or writing

slant ['slant] -vb, adv

  1. to take a diagonal course, direction, or path
  2. to turn or incline from a right line or a level : slope
  3. to give an oblique or sloping direction to
  4. to interpret or present in line with a special interest : angle
    • stories slant ed toward youth
  5. to maliciously or dishonestly distort or falsify
  6. a slanting direction, line, or plane : slope
  7. something that slants
  8. slash
  9. a football running play in which the ballcarrier runs obliquely toward the line of scrimmage
  10. a peculiar or personal point of view, attitude, or opinion
  11. a slanting view : glance

slant height -n

  1. the length of an element of a right circular cone
  2. the altitude of a side of a regular pyramid

slap ['slap] -n

  1. opening, breach
  2. to strike sharply with or as if with the open hand
  3. to cause to strike with a motion or sound like that of a blow with the open hand
  4. to put, place, or throw with careless haste or force
    • slapped on a coat of paint
  5. to assail verbally : insult
  6. to subject to a penalty usu. used with with
    • slapped him with a 10 fine
  7. a quick sharp blow
  8. a blow with the open hand
  9. a noise like that of a slap
  10. rebuff, insult
  11. directly, smack

slap·dash ['slap-'dash, -,dash] -adj

  1. haphazard, slipshod

slap down -vt

  1. to prohibit or restrain usu. abruptly and with censure from acting in a specified way : squelch
  2. to put an abrupt stop to : suppress

slap·hap·py ['slap-,ha-pē] -adj

  1. punch-drunk
  2. buoyantly or recklessly carefree or foolish : happy-go-lucky

slap·jack [-,jak] -n

  1. pancake
  2. a card game in which each player tries to be the first to slap a hand on any jack that appears faceup

slap shot -n

  1. a shot in ice hockey made with a swinging stroke

slap·stick ['slap-,stik] -n, adj

  1. a device made of two flat pieces of wood fastened at one end so as to make a loud noise when used by an actor to strike a person
  2. comedy stressing farce and horseplay
  3. activity resembling slapstick

slapup ['slap-,əp] -adj

  1. first-rate, bang-up

slash ['slash] -vb

  1. to lash out, cut, or thrash about with or as if with an edged blade
  2. to cut with or as if with rough sweeping strokes
  3. cane, lash
  4. to cut slits in (as a garment) so as to reveal a color beneath
  5. to criticize cuttingly
  6. to reduce sharply : cut
  7. the act of slashing
  8. a long cut or stroke made by or as if by slashing
  9. an ornamental slit in a garment
  10. an open tract in a forest strewn with debris (as from logging)
  11. the debris in such a tract
  12. a mark / used typically to denote "or" (as in and/or), "and or" (as in straggler/deserter), or "per" (as in feet/second) called also diagonal slant solidus virgule
  13. a low swampy area often overgrown with brush

slashandburn -adj

  1. characterized or developed by felling and burning trees to clear land esp. for temporary agriculture
  2. extremely ruthless and unsparing
    • slashandburn tactics
    • slashandburn criticism

slash·er ['sla-shər] -n

  1. one that slashes
  2. a person who mutilates or kills with an edged blade
    • a slasher film

slash·ing ['sla-shiŋ] -adj, adv

  1. incisively satiric or critical
  2. driving, pelting
  3. vivid, brilliant

slashing -n

  1. the act or process of slashing
  2. an insert or layer of contrasting color revealed by a slash (as in a garment)
  3. slash

slash pine -n

  1. a pine ( Pinus elliottii) of the southeastern U.S. that has two or three needles in a cluster and is a source of turpentine, lumber, and pulpwood

slash pocket -n

  1. a pocket suspended on the wrong side of a garment from a finished slit on the right side that serves as its opening

slat ['slat] -vt

  1. strike, pummel
  2. to hurl or throw smartly
  3. a thin narrow flat strip esp. of wood or metal
  4. ribs
  5. an auxiliary airfoil at the leading edge of the wing of an airplane
  6. to make or equip with slats

slate ['slāt] -n, adj

  1. a piece of construction material (as laminated rock) prepared as a shingle for roofing and siding
  2. a dense fine-grained metamorphic rock produced by the compression of various sediments (as clay or shale) so as to develop a characteristic cleavage
  3. a tablet (as of slate) used for writing on
  4. a written or unwritten record (as of deeds)
    • started with a clean slate
  5. a list of candidates for nomination or election
  6. a dark purplish gray
  7. any of various grays similar in color to common roofing slates
  8. to cover with slate or a slatelike substance
    • slate a roof
  9. to designate for a specified purpose or action : schedule
    • was slated to direct the play
  10. to thrash or pummel severely
  11. to criticize or censure severely

slate black -n

  1. a nearly neutral slightly purplish black

slate blue -n

  1. a grayish-blue color

slat·er ['slā-tər] -n

  1. one that slates
  2. wood louse
  3. any of various marine isopods

slath·er ['sla-thər] -n

  1. a great quantity often used in pl.

slather ['sla-thə-riŋ, 'slath-riŋ] -vt

  1. to use or spend in a wasteful or lavish manner : squander
  2. to spread thickly or lavishly
    • slather ed sunscreen on her skin
  3. to spread something thickly or lavishly on
    • slather ed her skin with sunscreen

slating -n

  1. the work of a slater

slat·tern ['sla-tərn] -n

  1. an untidy slovenly woman
  2. slut, prostitute

slattern -adj

  1. slatternly

slat·tern·ly ['sla-tərn-lē] -adj, n

  1. untidy and dirty through habitual neglect
  2. careless, disorderly
  3. of, relating to, or characteristic of a slut or prostitute

slaty ['slā-tē] -adj

  1. of, containing, or characteristic of slate
  2. gray like slate

slaugh·ter ['slȯ-tər] -n

  1. the act of killing
  2. the butchering of livestock for market
  3. killing of great numbers of human beings (as in battle or a massacre) : carnage

slaughter [-tər-ər] -vt, n

  1. to kill (animals) for food : butcher
  2. to kill in a bloody or violent manner : slay
  3. to kill in large numbers : massacre
  4. to discredit, defeat, or demolish completely

slaugh·ter·house ['slȯ-tər-,hau̇s] -n

  1. an establishment where animals are butchered

slaugh·ter·ous ['slȯ-tə-rəs] -adj, adv

  1. of or relating to slaughter : murderous
    • a slaughterous rampage

Slav ['släv, 'slav] -n, adj

  1. a person whose native tongue is a Slavic language

slave ['slāv] -n, adj

  1. a person held in servitude as the chattel of another
  2. one that is completely subservient to a dominating influence
  3. a device (as the printer of a computer) that is directly responsive to another
  4. drudge, toiler
  5. enslave
  6. to make directly responsive to another mechanism
  7. to work like a slave : drudge
  8. to traffic in slaves

slave driver -n

  1. a supervisor of slaves at work
  2. a harsh taskmaster

slave·hold·er ['slāv-,hōl-dər] -n, adj or n

  1. an owner of slaves

slavemak·ing ant ['slāv-,mā-kiŋ-] -n

  1. an ant that attacks the colonies of ants of other species and carries off the larvae and pupae to be reared in its own nest as slave workers

sla·ver ['sla-vər, 'slā-, 'slä-] -vb

  1. drool, slobber
  2. to smear with or as if with saliva

slaver -n

  1. saliva dribbling from the mouth

slav·er ['slā-vər] -n

  1. a ship used in the slave trade
  2. a person engaged in the slave trade
  3. white slaver

slav·ery ['slā-v(ə-)rē] -n

  1. drudgery, toil
  2. submission to a dominating influence
  3. the state of a person who is a chattel of another
  4. the practice of slaveholding

slave state -n

  1. a state of the U.S. in which slavery was legal until the Civil War
  2. a nation subjected to totalitarian rule

slave trade -n

  1. traffic in slaves
  2. the buying and selling of blacks for profit prior to the American Civil War

slav·ey ['slā-vē] -n

  1. drudge
  2. a household servant who does general housework

Slav·ic ['slä-vik, 'sla-] -n

  1. a branch of the Indo-European language family containing Belarusian, Bulgarian, Czech, Polish, Serbian and Croatian, Slovene, Russian, and Ukrainian

Slavic -adj

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Slavs or their languages

Slav·i·cist ['slä-və-sist, 'sla-] -n

  1. a specialist in the Slavic languages or literatures

slav·ish ['slā-vish sometimes 'sla-] -adj, adv, n

  1. of or characteristic of a slave
  2. basely or abjectly servile
  3. despicable, low
  4. oppressive, tyrannical
  5. copying obsequiously or without originality : imitative

Slav·ist ['slä-vist, 'sla-] -n

  1. slavicist

slav·oc·ra·cy [slā-'vä-krə-sē] -n

  1. a faction of slaveholders and advocates of slavery in the South before the American Civil War

Sla·von·ic [slə-'vä-nik] -adj

  1. slavic

Slavonic -n

  1. slavic
  2. old church slavonic

Slav·o·phile ['slä-və-,fī(-ə)l, 'sla-] -n

  1. an admirer of the Slavs : an advocate of Slavophilism

Slav·oph·i·lism [sla-'vä-fə-,li-zəm; 'sla-və-,fī-,li-, 'slä-] -n

  1. advocacy of Slavic and specif. Russian culture over western European culture esp. as practiced among some members of the Russian intelligentsia in the middle 19th century

slaw ['slȯ] -n

  1. coleslaw

slay ['slā] -vb, n

  1. to kill violently, wantonly, or in great numbers
  2. to strike down : kill
  3. to delight or amuse immensely
    • slay ed the audience
  4. kill, murder

SLBM -abbr

  1. submarine-launched ballistic missile

SLE -abbr

  1. systemic lupus erythematosus

sleave ['slēv] -n

  1. skein
    • sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care -- Shak.
  2. to separate (silk thread) into filaments

sleave silk -n

  1. floss silk that is easily separated into filaments for embroidery

sleaze ['slēz also 'slāz] -n

  1. sleazy quality, appearance, or behavior
  2. sleazy material
  3. a sleazy person

sleaze·bag [-,bag also -,bāg] -n

  1. a sleazy person

sleaze·ball [-,bȯl] -n

  1. a sleazy person

sleazo ['slē-(,)zō] -adj

  1. sleazy

slea·zy ['slē-zē also 'slā-] -adj, adv, n

  1. lacking firmness of texture : flimsy
  2. carelessly made of inferior materials : shoddy
  3. marked by low character or quality
    • sleazy tabloids
  4. squalid, dilapidated
    • sleazy bars

sled ['sled] -n

  1. a vehicle usu. on runners for transportation esp. on snow or ice
  2. a small steerable one used esp. by children for coasting down snow-covered hills
  3. rocket sled
  4. sledge
  5. to ride on a sled or sleigh

sledding -n

  1. the use of a sled
  2. the conditions under which one may use a sled
  3. going
    • tough sledding

sled dog -n

  1. a dog trained to draw a sledge esp. in the Arctic regions called also sledge dog

sledge ['slej] -n

  1. sledgehammer
  2. sledgehammer
  3. sleigh
  4. a strong heavy sled
  5. to travel with a sledge
  6. to ride in a sleigh
  7. to transport on a sledge

sledge·ham·mer ['slej-,ha-mər] -n

  1. a large heavy hammer that is wielded with both hands
  2. something that resembles a sledgehammer in action

sledgehammer -vt

  1. to strike with or as if with a sledgehammer
  2. to strike blows with or as if with a sledgehammer
  3. marked by heavy-handed directness or hard-hitting force
    • trusting in sledgehammer warfare -- C. J. Rolo

sleek ['slēk] -vb

  1. slick
    • grooms sleek ing cooled horses -- Sunset
  2. to cover up : gloss over
  3. slick
  4. smooth and glossy as if polished
    • sleek dark hair
  5. having a smooth well-groomed look
    • sleek cattle
  6. healthy-looking
  7. smooth in speech or manner
  8. unctuous
  9. having a prosperous air
    • sleek luxury condominiums
  10. having trim graceful lines
    • a sleek car
  11. elegant, stylish
    • a sleek wardrobe

sleek·en ['slē-kən] -vt

  1. to make sleek

sleek·it ['slē-kət] -adj

  1. sleek, smooth
  2. crafty, deceitful

sleep ['slēp] -n, adj

  1. the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored
  2. : a state resembling sleep: as
  3. a state of torpid inactivity
  4. death
    • put a pet cat to sleep
  5. trance, coma
  6. the closing of leaves or petals esp. at night
  7. a state marked by a diminution of feeling followed by tingling
    • my foot's gone to sleep
  8. the state of an animal during hibernation
  9. a period spent sleeping
  10. night
  11. a day's journey
  12. crusty matter present in the corner of an eye upon awakening
  13. to rest in a state of sleep
  14. to be in a state (as of quiescence or death) resembling sleep
  15. to have sexual relations usu. used with with
  16. to be slumbering in
    • slept the sleep of the dead
  17. to get rid of or spend in or by sleep
    • sleep away the hours
    • sleep off a headache
  18. to provide sleeping accommodations for
    • the boat sleep s six

sleep apnea -n

  1. apnea that recurs during sleep and is caused esp. by obstruction of the airway or a disturbance in the brain's respiratory center

sleep around -vi

  1. to engage in sex promiscuously

sleep·away ['slēp-ə-,wā] -adj

  1. providing accommodations for overnight sleep and extended stay away from home
    • sleepaway camps

sleep·er ['slē-pər] -n

  1. one that sleeps
  2. a piece of timber, stone, or steel on or near the ground to support a superstructure, keep railroad rails in place, or receive floor joists : stringpiece
  3. sleeping car
  4. someone or something unpromising or unnoticed that suddenly attains prominence or value
    • the low-budget film became the summer's sleeper
  5. children's pajamas usu. with feet usu. used in pl.
  6. a small earring or stud worn to keep the hole of a pierced ear from closing
  7. mole

sleeper cell -n

  1. a terrorist cell whose members work under cover in an area until sent into action

sleepin ['slēp-'in] -adj

  1. that lives at the place of employment
    • a sleepin maid

sleep in -vi

  1. to sleep where one is employed
  2. oversleep
  3. to sleep late intentionally

sleeping bag -n

  1. a bag that is warmly lined or padded for sleeping outdoors or in a camp or tent

Sleeping Beauty -n

  1. a princess of a fairy tale who is wakened from an enchanted sleep by the kiss of a prince

sleeping car -n

  1. a railroad passenger car having berths for sleeping

sleeping giant -n

  1. one that has great but unrealized or newly emerging power

sleeping partner -n

  1. silent partner

sleeping pill -n

  1. a drug and esp. a barbiturate that is taken as a tablet or capsule to induce sleep

sleeping porch -n

  1. a porch or room having open sides or many windows arranged to permit sleeping in the open air

sleeping sickness -n

  1. a serious disease that is prevalent in much of tropical Africa, is marked by fever, headache, lethargy, confusion, and sleep disturbances, and is caused by either of two trypanosomes ( Trypanosoma brucei gambienseand T. b. rhodesiense) transmitted by tsetse flies
  2. any of various viral encephalitides or encephalomyelitides of which lethargy or somnolence is a prominent feature

sleep·less ['slēp-ləs] -adj, adv, n

  1. not able to sleep
    • lay sleepless with fever
  2. affording no sleep
    • sleepless nights
  3. unceasingly active or operative
    • sleepless casinos

sleep out -vi

  1. to sleep outdoors

sleep·over ['slēp-ō-vər] -n

  1. an overnight stay (as at another's home)
  2. an instance of hosting a sleepover in one's home

sleep·walk ['slēp-,wȯk] -vi, n

  1. to walk while or as if while asleep
  2. to proceed in a passive often lethargic manner
    • sleepwalk ed through the workday

sleep·wear [-,wer] -n

  1. nightclothes

sleepy ['slē-pē] -adj, adv, n

  1. ready to fall asleep
  2. of, relating to, or characteristic of sleep
  3. sluggish as if from sleep : lethargic
  4. having little activity
    • a sleepy coastal village
  5. sleep-inducing

sleepy·head ['slē-pē-,hed] -n

  1. a sleepy person

sleet ['slēt] -n, adj

  1. frozen or partly frozen rain
  2. to shower sleet

sleeve ['slēv] -n, adj

  1. a part of a garment covering an arm
  2. sleevelet
  3. a tubular part (as a hollow axle or a bushing) designed to fit over another part
  4. an open-ended flat or tubular packaging or cover
  5. jacket

sleeve·let ['slēv-lət] -n

  1. a covering for the forearm to protect clothing from wear or dirt

sleigh ['slā] -n

  1. an open usu. horse-drawn vehicle with runners for use on snow or ice
  2. to drive or travel in a sleigh

sleigh bed -n

  1. a bed common esp. in the first half of the 19th century having a solid headboard and footboard that roll outward at the top

sleigh bell -n

  1. : any of various bells commonly attached to a sleigh or to the harness of a horse drawing a sleigh: as
  2. cascabel
  3. a hemispherical bell with an attached clapper

sleight ['slīt] -n

  1. deceitful craftiness
  2. stratagem
  3. dexterity, skill

sleight of hand

  1. a cleverly executed trick or deception
  2. a conjuring trick requiring manual dexterity
  3. skill and dexterity in conjuring tricks
  4. adroitness in deception

slen·der ['slen-dər] -adj, adv, n

  1. spare in frame or flesh
  2. gracefully slight
  3. small or narrow in circumference or width in proportion to length or height
  4. limited or inadequate in amount or scope : meager
    • people of slender means

slen·der·ize [-də-,rīz] -vt

  1. to make slender

slept ['slēp] -n, adj

(variant of sleep)

  1. the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored
  2. : a state resembling sleep: as
  3. a state of torpid inactivity
  4. death
    • put a pet cat to sleep
  5. trance, coma
  6. the closing of leaves or petals esp. at night
  7. a state marked by a diminution of feeling followed by tingling
    • my foot's gone to sleep
  8. the state of an animal during hibernation
  9. a period spent sleeping
  10. night
  11. a day's journey
  12. crusty matter present in the corner of an eye upon awakening
  13. to rest in a state of sleep
  14. to be in a state (as of quiescence or death) resembling sleep
  15. to have sexual relations usu. used with with
  16. to be slumbering in
    • slept the sleep of the dead
  17. to get rid of or spend in or by sleep
    • sleep away the hours
    • sleep off a headache
  18. to provide sleeping accommodations for
    • the boat sleep s six

sleuth ['slüth] -n

  1. detective
  2. to act as a detective : search for information
  3. to search for and discover

sleuth·hound ['slüth-,hau̇nd] -n

  1. detective

slew ['slā] -vb, n

(variant of slay)

  1. to kill violently, wantonly, or in great numbers
  2. to strike down : kill
  3. to delight or amuse immensely
    • slay ed the audience
  4. kill, murder

slew ['slü, 'slau̇; in the US (exc NewEng) 'slü is usual for sense 1 with those to whom the sense is familiar; Brit usu 'slau̇ for both senses] -n, adj

(variant of slough)

  1. a place of deep mud or mire
  2. swamp
  3. an inlet on a river
  4. backwater
  5. a creek in a marsh or tide flat
  6. a state of moral degradation or spiritual dejection
  7. to engulf in a slough
  8. to plod through or as if through mud : slog
  9. the cast-off skin of a snake
  10. a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer
  11. something that may be shed or cast off
  12. to become shed or cast off
  13. to cast off one's skin
  14. to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue
  15. to crumble slowly and fall away
  16. to cast off
  17. to get rid of or discard as irksome, objectionable, or disadvantageous usu. used with off
  18. to dispose of (a losing card in bridge) by discarding

slice ['slīs] -vb, adj, n

  1. to cut with or as if with a knife
  2. to stir or spread with a slice
  3. to hit (a ball) so that a slice results
  4. interpret, construe used in phrases like any way you slice it
  5. to slice something
  6. to move with a cutting action
    • the ship sliced through the waves
  7. a thin flat piece cut from something
  8. a wedge-shaped piece (as of pie or cake)
  9. a spatula for spreading paint or ink
  10. a serving knife with wedge-shaped blade
    • a fish slice
  11. a flight of a ball that deviates from a straight course in the direction of the dominant hand of the player propelling it
  12. a ball following such a course
  13. portion, share
    • a slice of the profits
  14. segment, sample
    • a slice of society

sliceoflife -adj

  1. of, relating to, or marked by the accurate transcription (as into drama) of a segment of actual life experience

slick ['slik] -vb

  1. to make sleek or smooth
  2. spruce usu. used with up
  3. having a smooth surface : slippery
    • slick wet leaves
  4. having surface plausibility or appeal : glossy
    • slick advertising
  5. based on stereotype : trite
    • slick stories soon forgotten
  6. sleek
  7. characterized by subtlety or nimble wit : clever
  8. wily
    • a slick swindler
  9. deft, skillful
    • a slick ballplayer
  10. extremely good : first-rate
  11. something that is smooth or slippery
  12. a smooth patch of water covered with a film of oil
  13. a film of oil
  14. : an implement for producing a smooth or slick surface
  15. a shrewd untrustworthy person
  16. a popular magazine printed on coated stock and intended to appeal to sophisticated readers
  17. an automobile tire made without a tread for maximum traction (as in drag racing)
  18. a military helicopter without armaments that is used to transport troops or light cargo

slickear ['slik-,ir] -n

  1. a range animal lacking an earmark

slick·en·side ['sli-kən-,sīd] -n

  1. a smooth often striated surface produced on rock by movement along a fault or a subsidiary fracture usu. used in pl.

slick·er ['sli-kər] -n

  1. oilskin
  2. raincoat
  3. a clever crook : swindler
  4. slickster
  5. a city dweller esp. of natty appearance or sophisticated mannerisms

slick·rock ['slik-,räk] -n

  1. smooth wind-polished rock

slick·ster ['slik-stər] -n

  1. a slick untrustworthy person

slide ['slīd] -vb

  1. to move smoothly along a surface : slip
  2. to coast over snow or ice
  3. to fall or dive feetfirst or headfirst when approaching a base
  4. to slip or fall by loss of footing
  5. to change position or become dislocated : shift
  6. to slither along the ground : crawl
  7. to stream along : flow
  8. to move or pass smoothly or easily
    • slid into the prepared speech
  9. to pass unnoticed or unremarked
    • let the criticism slide
  10. to pass unobtrusively : steal
  11. to pass by gradations esp. downward
    • the economy slid from recession to depression
  12. to cause to glide or slip
  13. to traverse in a sliding manner
  14. to put unobtrusively or stealthily
    • slid the bill into his hand
  15. an act or instance of sliding
  16. a musical grace of two or more small notes
  17. portamento
  18. : a sliding part or mechanism: as
  19. a U-shaped section of tube in the trombone that is pushed out and in to produce the tones between the fundamental and its harmonics
  20. a short U-shaped section of tube in a brass instrument that is used to adjust the pitch of the instrument or of individual valves
  21. a moving piece (as the ram of a punch press) that is guided by a part along which it slides
  22. a guiding surface (as a feeding mechanism) along which something slides
  23. sliding seat
  24. the descent of a mass of earth, rock, or snow down a hill or mountainside
  25. a dislocation in which one rock mass in a mining lode has slid on another : fault
  26. a slippery surface for coasting
  27. a chute with a slippery bed down which children slide in play
  28. a channel or track on which something is slid
  29. a sloping trough down which objects are carried by gravity
    • a log slide
  30. a flat piece of glass or plastic on which an object is mounted for microscopic examination
  31. a photographic transparency on a small plate or film mounted for projection
  32. bottleneck

slide fastener -n

  1. zipper

slid·er ['slī-dər] -n

  1. one that slides
  2. a freshwater turtle ( Trachemys scriptasyn. Pseudemys scripta) chiefly of the southeastern U.S.
  3. one ( T. scripta elegans) usu. having a red stripe behind each eye and often sold as a pet
  4. a fast baseball pitch that breaks slightly in the same direction as a curve

slide rule -n

  1. a manual device used for calculation that consists in its simple form of a ruler and a movable middle piece which are graduated with similar logarithmic scales

slide valve -n

  1. a valve that opens and closes a passageway by sliding over a port
  2. such a valve often used in steam engines for admitting steam to the piston and releasing it

slide·way ['slīd-,wā] -n

  1. a way along which something slides

sliding scale -n

  1. a wage scale geared to the selling price of the product or to the consumer price index but usu. guaranteeing a minimum below which the wage will not fall
  2. a system for raising or lowering tariffs in accord with price changes
  3. a flexible scale (as of fees or subsidies) adjusted to the needs or income of individuals
    • the sliding scale of medical fees

sliding seat -n

  1. a rower's seat (as in a racing shell) that slides fore and aft called also slide

slier ['slī] -adj, adv, n

(variant of sly)

  1. wise in practical affairs
  2. displaying cleverness : ingenious
  3. clever in concealing one's aims or ends : furtive
  4. lacking in straightforwardness and candor : dissembling
  5. lightly mischievous : roguish
    • a sly jest

sliest ['slī] -adj, adv, n

(variant of sly)

  1. wise in practical affairs
  2. displaying cleverness : ingenious
  3. clever in concealing one's aims or ends : furtive
  4. lacking in straightforwardness and candor : dissembling
  5. lightly mischievous : roguish
    • a sly jest

slight ['slīt] -adj, adv, n

  1. having a slim or delicate build : not stout or massive in body
  2. lacking in strength or substance : flimsy, frail
  3. deficient in weight, solidity, or importance : trivial
    • a slight movie
  4. small of its kind or in amount
    • a slight chance
    • a slight odor of gas
  5. to treat as slight or unimportant : make light of
  6. to treat with disdain or indifference
    • slight a guest
  7. to perform or attend to carelessly and inadequately
    • don't slight your work
  8. an act or an instance of slighting
  9. an instance of being slighted : a humiliating discourtesy

slight·ing ['slī-tiŋ] -adj, adv

  1. characterized by disregard or disrespect : disparaging
    • a slighting remark

slim ['slim] -adj, adv, n

  1. of small diameter or thickness in proportion to the height or length : slender
  2. mean, worthless
  3. adroit, crafty
  4. inferior in quality or amount : slight
  5. scanty, small
    • a slim chance
  6. to make slender : decrease the size of
  7. to become slender

slime ['slīm] -n

  1. soft moist earth or clay
  2. viscous mud
  3. : a viscous, glutinous, or gelatinous substance: as
  4. a mucous or mucoid secretion of various animals (as slugs and catfishes)
  5. a product of wet crushing consisting of ore ground so fine as to pass a 200-mesh screen
  6. a repulsive or odious person
  7. to smear or cover with slime
  8. to remove slime from (as fish for canning)
  9. to become slimy

slime·ball ['slīm-,bȯl] -n

  1. slime

slime mold -n

  1. any of a group (Myxomycetes or Mycetozoa) of organisms usu. held to be lower fungi but sometimes considered protozoans that exist vegetatively as mobile plasmodia and reproduce by spores

slimjim ['slim-'jim, -,jim] -adj

  1. notably slender

slim·mer ['sli-mər] -n

  1. a person dieting to lose weight

slim·nas·tics [,slim-'nas-tiks] -n pl but sing in constr

  1. exercises designed to reduce one's weight

slim·sy ['slim-zē, 'slim(p)-sē] -adj

  1. flimsy, frail

slimy ['slī-mē] -adj, adv, n

  1. of, relating to, or resembling slime : viscous
  2. covered with or yielding slime
  3. vile, offensive

sling ['sliŋ] -vt, n

  1. to cast with a sudden and usu. sweeping or swirling motion
    • slung the sack over my shoulder
  2. to throw with or as if with a sling
    • sling ing punches
    • political campaigners sling ing mud
  3. to serve (food) to a customer
    • had a job sling ing hamburgers
  4. an instrument for throwing stones that usu. consists of a short strap with strings fastened to its ends and is whirled round to discharge its missile by centrifugal force
  5. slingshot
  6. a usu. looped line (as of strap, chain, or rope) used to hoist, lower, or carry something
  7. a hanging bandage suspended from the neck to support an arm or hand
  8. a chain or rope attached to a lower yard at the middle and passing around a mast near the masthead to support a yard
  9. a chain hooked at the bow and stern of a boat for lowering or hoisting
  10. a device (as a rope net) for enclosing material to be hoisted by a tackle or crane
  11. a slinging or hurling of or as if of a missile
  12. to place in a sling for hoisting or lowering
  13. to suspend by or as if by a sling
  14. an alcoholic drink that is served hot or cold and that usu. consists of liquor, sugar, lemon juice, and plain or carbonated water
    • gin sling
    • rum sling

slings and arrows -n pl

  1. pointed often acerbic critical attacks
    • has suffered the slings and arrows of detractors -- Roland Gelatt

sling·shot ['sliŋ-,shät] -n

  1. a forked stick with an elastic band attached for shooting small stones
  2. a maneuver in auto racing in which a drafting car accelerates past the car in front by taking advantage of reserve power
  3. a dragster in which the driver sits behind the rear wheels

slink ['sliŋk] -vb

  1. to go or move stealthily or furtively (as in fear or shame) : steal
  2. to move in a sinuous provocative manner
  3. to give premature birth to used esp. of a domestic animal
    • a cow that slink s her calf
  4. the young of an animal (as a calf) brought forth prematurely
  5. the flesh or skin of such an animal
  6. born prematurely or abortively
    • a slink calf

slinky ['sliŋ-kē] -adj, adv, n

  1. characterized by slinking : stealthily quiet
    • slinky movements
  2. sleek and sinuous in movement or outline
  3. following the lines of the figure in a gracefully flowing manner
    • a slinky evening gown

slip ['slip] -vb

  1. to move with a smooth sliding motion
  2. to move quietly and cautiously : steal
  3. elapse, pass
  4. to escape from memory or consciousness
  5. to become uttered through inadvertence
  6. to pass quickly or easily away : become lost
    • let an opportunity slip
  7. to fall into error or fault : lapse
  8. to slide out of place or away from a support or one's grasp
  9. to slide on or down a slippery surface
    • slip on the stairs
  10. to flow smoothly
  11. to get speedily into or out of clothing
    • slipped into his coat
  12. to fall off from a standard or accustomed level by degrees : decline
  13. sideslip
  14. to cause to move easily and smoothly : slide
  15. to get away from : elude, evade
    • slipped his pursuers
  16. to free oneself from
    • the dog slipped its collar
  17. to escape from (one's memory or notice)
    • their names slip my mind
  18. shed, cast
    • the snake slipped its skin
  19. to put on (a garment) quickly usu. used with on
    • slip on a coat
  20. to let loose from a restraining leash or grasp
  21. to cause to slip open : release, undo
    • slip a lock
  22. to let go of
  23. to disengage from (an anchor) instead of hauling
  24. to insert, place, or pass quietly or secretly
  25. to give or pay on the sly
  26. slink, abort
  27. dislocate
    • slipped his shoulder
  28. to transfer (a stitch) from one needle to another without working a stitch
  29. to avoid (a punch) by moving the body or head quickly to one side
  30. a sloping ramp extending out into the water to serve as a place for landing or repairing ships
  31. a ship's or boat's berth between two piers
  32. the act or an instance of departing secretly or hurriedly
    • gave his pursuer the slip
  33. a mistake in judgment, policy, or procedure
  34. an unintentional and trivial mistake or fault : lapse
    • a slip of the tongue
  35. a leash so made that it can be quickly slipped
  36. the act or an instance of slipping down or out of a place
    • a slip on the ice
  37. a sudden mishap
  38. a movement dislocating parts (as of a rock or soil mass)
  39. the result of such movement
  40. a fall from some level or standard : decline
    • a slip in stock prices
  41. an undergarment made in dress length and usu. having shoulder straps
  42. half-slip
  43. a case into which something is slipped
  44. pillowcase
  45. a disposition or tendency to slip easily
  46. the action of sideslipping : an instance of sideslipping
  47. a small shoot or twig cut for planting or grafting : scion
  48. descendant, offspring
  49. a long narrow strip of material
  50. a small piece of paper
  51. a young and slender person
    • a slip of a girl
  52. a long seat or narrow pew
  53. to take cuttings from (a plant) : divide into slips
    • slip a geranium
  54. a mixture of finely divided clay and water used esp. by potters (as for casting or decorating wares or in cementing separately formed parts)

slip·case ['slip-,kās] -n, adj

  1. a protective container for books or magazines that has one open end

slip·cov·er ['slip-,kə-vər] -n

  1. a cover that may be slipped off and on
  2. a removable covering for an article of furniture

slip·form ['slip-,fȯrm] -vt

  1. to construct with the use of a slip form

slip form -n

  1. a form that is moved slowly as concrete is placed during construction (as of a building or pavement)

slip·knot ['slip-,nät] -n

  1. a knot that slips along the rope or line around which it is made
  2. one made by tying an overhand knot around the standing part of a rope

slip noose -n

  1. a noose with a slipknot

slipon ['slip-,ȯn, -,än] -n

  1. : an article of clothing that is easily slipped on or off: as
  2. a glove or shoe without fastenings
  3. a garment (as a girdle) that one steps into and pulls up
  4. pullover

slip·over [-,ō-vər] -n

  1. a garment or cover that slips on and off easily
  2. a pullover sweater

slip·page ['sli-pij] -n

  1. an act, instance, or process of slipping
  2. a loss in transmission of power
  3. the difference between theoretical and actual output (as of power)

slipped disk -n

  1. a protrusion of one of the cartilage disks between vertebrae with pressure on spinal nerves resulting in low back pain or sciatic pain

slip·per ['sli-pər] -adj

  1. slippery

slipper [-pərd] -n, adj

  1. a light low-cut shoe that is easily slipped on the foot

slipper chair -n

  1. an armless upholstered chair with short legs

slip·pery ['sli-p(ə-)rē] -adj, n

  1. causing or tending to cause something to slide or fall
    • slippery roads
  2. tending to slip from the grasp
    • a slippery fish
  3. not firmly fixed : unstable
  4. not precise or fixed in meaning : ambiguous, elusive
  5. not to be trusted : tricky

slippery elm -n

  1. a large-leaved elm ( Ulmus rubrasyn. U. fulva) of eastern and central No. America that has hard wood and fragrant mucilaginous inner bark
  2. the bark

slippery slope -n

  1. a course of action that seems to lead inevitably from one action or result to another with unintended consequences

slip·py ['sli-pē] -adj

  1. slippery

slip ring -n

  1. one of two or more continuous conducting rings from which the brushes take or to which they deliver current in a generator or motor

slipsheet ['slip-,shēt] -vt

  1. to insert slip sheets between (newly printed sheets)

slip sheet -n

  1. a sheet of paper placed between newly printed sheets to prevent offsetting

slip·shod ['slip-'shäd] -adj

  1. wearing loose shoes or slippers
  2. down at the heel : shabby
  3. careless, slovenly

slip·slop [-,släp] -n, adj

  1. watery food : slops
  2. shallow talk or writing

slip·sole [-,sōl] -n

  1. a thin insole
  2. a half sole inserted between the insole or welt and the outsole of a shoe to give additional height called also slip tap

slip stitch -n

  1. a concealed stitch for sewing folded edges (as hems) made by alternately running the needle inside the fold and picking up a thread or two from the body of the article
  2. an unworked stitch
  3. a knitting stitch that is shifted from one needle to another without knitting it

slip·stream ['slip-,strēm] -n

  1. a stream of fluid (as air or water) driven aft by a propeller
  2. an area of reduced air pressure and forward suction immediately behind a rapidly moving vehicle

slipstream -vi

  1. to drive in the slipstream of a vehicle

slip·up ['slip-,əp] -n

  1. mistake
  2. mischance

slip up -vi

  1. to make a mistake : blunder

slip·ware ['slip-,wer] -n

  1. pottery coated with slip to improve or decorate the surface

slip·way [-,wā] -n

  1. an inclined usu. concrete surface for a ship being built or repaired

slit ['slit] -n, adj

  1. a long narrow cut or opening
  2. to make a slit in
  3. to cut off or away : sever
  4. to form into a slit
  5. to cut into long narrow strips

slith·er ['sli-thər] -vb

  1. to slide on or as if on a loose gravelly surface
  2. to slip or slide like a snake
  3. to cause to slide

slith·ery ['sli-thə-rē] -adj

  1. having a slippery surface, texture, or quality

slit trench -n

  1. a narrow trench esp. for shelter in battle from bomb and shell fragments

sliv·er ['sli-vər, 2 is usu 'slī-] -n

  1. a long slender piece cut or torn off : splinter
  2. a small and narrow portion
    • a sliver of land
  3. particle, scrap
    • not a sliver of evidence
  4. an untwisted strand or rope of textile fiber produced by a carding or combing machine and ready for drawing, roving, or spinning
  5. to cut into slivers : splinter
  6. to become split into slivers

sliv·o·vitz ['sli-və-,vits, 'slē-, -,wits] -n

  1. a dry usu. colorless plum brandy made esp. in the Balkan countries

slob ['släb] -n, adj

  1. a slovenly or boorish person
  2. an ordinary person
    • just some poor slob

slob·ber ['slä-bər] -vb, n

  1. to let saliva dribble from the mouth : drool
  2. to indulge the feelings effusively and without restraint
  3. to smear with or as if with dribbling saliva or food

slobber ['slä-b(ə-)rē] -n, adj

  1. saliva drooled from the mouth
  2. driveling, sloppy, or incoherent utterance

sloe ['slō] -n

  1. the small dark globose astringent fruit of the blackthorn
  2. blackthorn

sloeeyed ['slō-,īd] -adj

  1. having soft dark bluish- or purplish-black eyes
  2. having slanted eyes

sloe gin -n

  1. a sweet reddish liqueur consisting of grain spirits flavored chiefly with sloes

slog ['släg] -vb, n

  1. to hit hard : beat
  2. to plod (one's way) perseveringly esp. against difficulty
  3. to plod heavily : tramp
    • slogged through the snow
  4. to work hard and steadily : plug
  5. hard persistent work
    • the endless enervating slog of war -- Michael Gorra
  6. a prolonged arduous task or effort
    • reform will be a hard political slog -- M. S. Forbes
  7. a hard dogged march or journey

slo·gan ['slō-gən] -n

  1. a war cry esp. of a Scottish clan
  2. a word or phrase used to express a characteristic position or stand or a goal to be achieved
  3. a brief attention-getting phrase used in advertising or promotion

slo·gan·eer [,slō-gə-'nir] -n, vi

  1. a maker or user of slogans

slo·gan·ize ['slō-gə-,nīz] -vt

  1. to express as a slogan

slo-mo ['slō-,mō] -adj, n

  1. slow-motion

sloop ['slüp] -n

  1. a fore-and-aft rigged boat with one mast and a single jib

sloop of war

  1. a small warship with guns on only one deck

slop ['släp] -n

  1. a loose smock or overall
  2. short full breeches worn by men in the 16th century
  3. articles (as clothing) sold to sailors
  4. soft mud : slush
  5. thin tasteless drink or liquid food usu. used in pl.
  6. liquid spilled or splashed
  7. food waste (as garbage) fed to animals : swill
  8. excreted body waste usu. used in pl.
  9. a product of little or no value : rubbish
    • watching the usual slop on TV
  10. sentimental effusiveness in speech or writing : gush
  11. to spill from a container
  12. to splash or spill liquid on
  13. to cause (a liquid) to splash
  14. to dish out messily
  15. to eat or drink greedily or noisily
  16. to feed slop to
    • slop the hogs
  17. to tramp in mud or slush
  18. to become spilled or splashed
  19. to be effusive : gush
  20. to pass beyond or exceed a boundary or limit

slop basin -n

  1. slop bowl

slop bowl -n

  1. a bowl for receiving the leavings of tea or coffee cups at table

slop chest -n

  1. a store of clothing and personal requisites (as tobacco) carried on merchant ships for issue to the crew usu. as a charge against their wages

slope ['slōp] -adj

  1. that slants : sloping often used in combination
    • slope -sided
  2. to take an oblique course
  3. to lie or fall in a slant : incline
  4. go, travel
    • slope s off into the night -- Wolcott Gibbs
  5. to cause to incline or slant
  6. ground that forms a natural or artificial incline
  7. upward or downward slant or inclination or degree of slant
  8. the part of a continent draining to a particular ocean
    • Alaska's North Slope
  9. the tangent of the angle made by a straight line with the x-axis
  10. the slope of the line tangent to a plane curve at a point

slopeintercept form -n

  1. the equation of a straight line in the form y mx bwhere mis the slope of the line and bis its y-intercept

slopitch ['slō-'pich, -,pich] -n

  1. slow-pitch

slop jar -n

  1. a large pail used as a chamber pot or to receive waste water from a washbowl or the contents of chamber pots

slop pail -n

  1. a pail for toilet or household slops

slop·py ['slä-pē] -adj, adv, n

  1. wet so as to spatter easily : slushy
    • a sloppy racetrack
  2. wet or smeared with or as if with something slopped over
  3. slovenly, careless
    • a sloppy dresser
    • did sloppy work
  4. disagreeably effusive
    • sloppy sentimentalism

sloppy joe [-'jō] -n

  1. a loose-fitting sweater esp. for girls
  2. ground beef cooked in a thick spicy sauce and usu. served on a bun

slop·work ['släp-,wərk] -n

  1. the manufacture of cheap ready-made clothing
  2. hasty slovenly work

slosh ['släsh, 'slȯsh] -n, adj

  1. slush
  2. the slap or splash of liquid
  3. to flounder or splash through water, mud, or slush
  4. to move with a splashing motion
    • the water slosh ed around him -- Bill Alcine
  5. to splash about in liquid
  6. to splash (a liquid) about or on something
  7. to splash with liquid

sloshed ['släsht, 'slȯsht] -adj

  1. drunk, intoxicated

slot ['slät] -n

  1. a narrow opening or groove : slit, notch
    • a mail slot in a door
  2. a narrow passage or enclosure
  3. a passage through the wing of an airplane or of a missile that is located usu. near the leading edge and formed between a main and an auxiliary airfoil for improving flow conditions over the wing so as to increase lift and delay stalling of the wing
  4. the area on a hockey rink in front of the crease and between the face-off circles
  5. a place or position in an organization, arrangement, or sequence : niche, spot
  6. slot machine usu. used in pl.
  7. a gap between an end and a tackle in an offensive football line
  8. to cut a slot in
  9. to place in or assign to a slot
  10. to fit easily
    • her ideas slot neatly into the theory
  11. the track of an animal (as a deer)

slot·back ['slät-,bak] -n

  1. an offensive football halfback who lines up just behind the slot between an offensive end and tackle

slot car -n

  1. an electric toy racing car with a pin underneath that fits into a groove on a track for guidance

sloth ['slȯth, 'släth also 'slōth] -n

  1. disinclination to action or labor : indolence
  2. spiritual apathy and inactivity
    • the deadly sin of sloth
  3. any of various slow-moving arboreal edentate mammals (genera Bradypusand Choloepus) that inhabit tropical forests of So. and Central America, hang from the branches back downward, and feed on leaves, shoots, and fruits

sloth bear -n

  1. a forest-dwelling bear ( Melurus ursinus) of India and adjacent regions that has long black hair, very large claws, and a long snout and that feeds chiefly on insects

sloth·ful ['slȯth-fəl, 'släth- also 'slōth-] -adj, adv, n

  1. inclined to sloth : indolent

slot machine -n

  1. a machine whose operation is begun by dropping a coin into a slot
  2. an orig. coin-operated gambling machine that pays off according to the matching of symbols on wheels spun by a handle
  3. an electronic version of this machine

slot racing -n

  1. the racing of slot cars

slotting fee -n

  1. a fee charged by a vendor in exchange for carrying a manufacturer's product called also slotting allowance

slouch ['slau̇ch] -n

  1. an awkward fellow : lout
  2. one that is unimpressive
  3. a lazy or incompetent person used in negative constructions
    • was no slouch at cooking
  4. a gait or posture characterized by an ungainly stooping of the head and shoulders or excessive relaxation of body muscles
  5. to walk, stand, or sit with a slouch : assume a slouch
  6. droop
  7. to go or move slowly or reluctantly
  8. to cause to droop
    • slouch ed his shoulders

slouch hat -n

  1. a soft usu. felt hat with a wide flexible brim

slouchy ['slau̇-chē] -adj, adv, n

  1. lacking erectness or stiffness (as in form or posture)
    • a slouchy sweater
    • slouchy figures waiting in line

slough ['slü, 'slau̇; in the US (exc NewEng) 'slü is usual for sense 1 with those to whom the sense is familiar; Brit usu 'slau̇ for both senses] -n, adj

  1. a place of deep mud or mire
  2. swamp
  3. an inlet on a river
  4. backwater
  5. a creek in a marsh or tide flat
  6. a state of moral degradation or spiritual dejection
  7. to engulf in a slough
  8. to plod through or as if through mud : slog
  9. the cast-off skin of a snake
  10. a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer
  11. something that may be shed or cast off
  12. to become shed or cast off
  13. to cast off one's skin
  14. to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue
  15. to crumble slowly and fall away
  16. to cast off
  17. to get rid of or discard as irksome, objectionable, or disadvantageous usu. used with off
  18. to dispose of (a losing card in bridge) by discarding

slough of de·spond [,slau̇-əv-di-'spänd, ,slü-]

  1. a state of extreme depression

Slo·vak ['slō-,väk, -,vak] -n, adj, adj or n

  1. a member of a Slavic people of Slovakia
  2. the Slavic language of the Slovak people

slov·en ['slə-vən] -n

  1. one habitually negligent of neatness or cleanliness esp. in personal appearance

sloven -adj

  1. slovenly

Slo·vene ['slō-,vēn] -n, adj, adj or n

  1. a member of a Slavic people living largely in Slovenia
  2. the language of the Slovenes

slov·en·ly ['slə-vən-lē also 'slä-] -adj, n, adv

  1. untidy esp. in personal appearance
  2. lazily slipshod
    • slovenly in thought
  3. characteristic of a sloven
    • slovenly habits

slow ['slō] -adj, n

  1. mentally dull : stupid
    • a slow student
  2. naturally inert or sluggish
  3. lacking in readiness, promptness, or willingness
  4. not hasty or precipitate
    • was slow to anger
  5. moving, flowing, or proceeding without speed or at less than usual speed
    • traffic was slow
  6. exhibiting or marked by low speed
    • he moved with slow deliberation
  7. not acute
    • a slow disease
  8. low, gentle
    • slow fire
  9. requiring a long time : gradual
    • a slow recovery
  10. having qualities that hinder rapid progress or action
    • a slow track
  11. registering behind or below what is correct
    • the clock is slow
  12. less than the time indicated by another method of reckoning
  13. that is behind the time at a specified time or place
  14. lacking in life, animation, or gaiety : boring
    • the first chapter is a bit slow
  15. marked by reduced activity
    • business was slow
    • a slow news week
  16. slowly
  17. to make slow or slower : slacken the speed of
    • slow a car
    often used with down or up
  18. to go or become slower
    • production of new cars slow ed sharply

slow·down ['slō-,dau̇n] -n

  1. a slowing down
    • a business slowdown

slowfoot·ed [-,fu̇-təd] -adj, n

  1. moving at a very slow pace : plodding
    • a slowfooted novel
    • a slowfooted ship

slow·ly [-lē] -adv

  1. in a slow manner : not quickly, fast, early, rashly, or readily

slow match -n

  1. a match or fuse made so as to burn slowly and evenly and used for firing (as of blasting charges)

slowmotion ['slō-'mō-shən] -adj

  1. of, relating to, or being motion-picture or video photography in which the action that has been photographed is made to appear to occur slower than it actually occurred
    • a slowmotion replay
  2. slowly moving
    • a slowmotion dance

slow motion -n

  1. slow-motion photography

slowpitch ['slō-,pich] -n

  1. softball which is played with 10 players on each side and in which each pitch must have an arc 3 to 10 feet high and base stealing is not allowed

slow·poke ['slō-,pōk] -n

  1. a very slow person

slowtwitch ['slō-,twich] -adj

  1. of, relating to, or being muscle fiber that contracts slowly esp. during sustained physical activity requiring endurance

slow virus -n

  1. any of various infectious agents now usu. considered to be prions that have a long incubation period between infection and the clinical appearance of the associated disease

slowwave sleep -n

  1. a state of deep usu. dreamless sleep that occurs regularly during a normal period of sleep with intervening periods of REM sleep and that is characterized by delta waves and a low level of autonomic physiological activity

slowwit·ted [-'wi-təd] -adj

  1. mentally slow : dull

slow·worm [-,wərm] -n

  1. a burrowing limbless European lizard ( Anguis fragilis) with small eyes called also blindworm

SLR -abbr

  1. single-lens reflex

slub ['sləb] -vt

  1. to draw out and twist (as slivers of wool) slightly
  2. a soft thick uneven section in a yarn or thread

slub·ber ['slə-bər] -vt

  1. stain, sully
  2. to perform in a slipshod fashion

slub·bing ['slə-biŋ] -n

  1. roving

sludge ['sləj] -n, adj

  1. mud, mire
  2. a muddy deposit (as on a riverbed) : ooze
  3. : a muddy or slushy mass, deposit, or sediment: as
  4. precipitated solid matter produced by water and sewage treatment processes
  5. muddy sediment in a steam boiler
  6. a precipitate or settling (as a mixture of impurities and acid) from a mineral oil
  7. slush

slue ['slü, 'slau̇; in the US (exc NewEng) 'slü is usual for sense 1 with those to whom the sense is familiar; Brit usu 'slau̇ for both senses] -n, adj

(variant of slough)

  1. a place of deep mud or mire
  2. swamp
  3. an inlet on a river
  4. backwater
  5. a creek in a marsh or tide flat
  6. a state of moral degradation or spiritual dejection
  7. to engulf in a slough
  8. to plod through or as if through mud : slog
  9. the cast-off skin of a snake
  10. a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer
  11. something that may be shed or cast off
  12. to become shed or cast off
  13. to cast off one's skin
  14. to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue
  15. to crumble slowly and fall away
  16. to cast off
  17. to get rid of or discard as irksome, objectionable, or disadvantageous usu. used with off
  18. to dispose of (a losing card in bridge) by discarding

slug ['sləg] -n

  1. sluggard
  2. : a lump, disk, or cylinder of material (as plastic or metal): as
  3. a musket ball
  4. bullet
  5. a piece of metal roughly shaped for subsequent processing
  6. a 50 gold piece
  7. a disk for insertion in a slot machine
  8. one used illegally instead of a coin
  9. any of numerous chiefly terrestrial pulmonate gastropods (order Stylommatophora) that are found in most parts of the world where there is a reasonable supply of moisture and are closely related to the land snails but are long and wormlike and have only a rudimentary shell often buried in the mantle or entirely absent
  10. a smooth soft larva of a sawfly or moth that creeps like a mollusk
  11. a quantity of liquor drunk in one swallow
  12. a detached mass of fluid (as water vapor or oil) that causes impact (as in a circulating system)
  13. a strip of metal thicker than a printer's lead
  14. a line of type cast as one piece
  15. a usu. temporary type line serving to instruct or identify
  16. the gravitational unit of mass in the foot-pound-second system to which a pound force can impart an acceleration of one foot per second per second and which is equal to the mass of an object weighing 32 pounds
  17. to add a printer's slug to
  18. to drink in gulps often used with down
  19. a heavy blow esp. with the fist
  20. to strike heavily with or as if with the fist or a bat
  21. fight usu. used in the phrase slug it out

slug·abed ['slə-gə-,bed] -n

  1. a person who stays in bed after the usual or proper time to get up
  2. sluggard

slug·fest ['sləg-,fest] -n

  1. a fight marked by the exchange of heavy blows
  2. a heated dispute
    • a vocal slugfest

slug·gard ['slə-gərd] -n

  1. a habitually lazy person

sluggard -adj, n

  1. sluggardly

slug·gard·ly ['slə-gərd-lē] -adj

  1. lazily inactive

slug·ger ['slə-gər] -n

  1. : one that strikes hard or with heavy blows: as
  2. a prizefighter who punches hard but has usu. little defensive skill
  3. a hard-hitting batter in baseball

slugging percentage -n

  1. the ratio (as a rate per thousand) of the total number of bases reached on base hits to official times at bat for a baseball player called also slugging average

slug·gish ['slə-gish] -adj, adv, n

  1. averse to activity or exertion : indolent
  2. torpid
  3. slow to respond (as to stimulation or treatment)
  4. markedly slow in movement, flow, or growth
  5. economically inactive or slow

sluice ['slüs] -n

  1. an artificial passage for water (as in a millstream) fitted with a valve or gate for stopping or regulating flow
  2. a body of water pent up behind a floodgate
  3. a dock gate : floodgate
  4. a stream flowing through a floodgate
  5. a channel to drain or carry off surplus water
  6. a long inclined trough usu. on the ground
  7. such a contrivance paved usu. with riffles to hold quicksilver for catching gold
  8. to draw off by or through a sluice
  9. to wash with or in water running through or from a sluice
  10. to drench with a sudden flow : flush
  11. to transport (as logs) in a sluice
  12. to pour as if from a sluice

sluice·way ['slüs-,wā] -n

  1. an artificial channel into which water is let by a sluice

sluicy ['slü-sē] -adj

  1. falling copiously or in streams : streaming

slum ['sləm] -n

  1. a densely populated usu. urban area marked by crowding, dirty run-down housing, poverty, and social disorganization
  2. to visit slums esp. out of curiosity
  3. to go somewhere or do something that might be considered beneath one's station sometimes used with it
    • slumming it in budget hotels

slum·ber ['sləm-bər] -vi, n

  1. to sleep lightly : doze
  2. sleep
  3. to be in a torpid, slothful, or negligent state
  4. to lie dormant or latent

slumber -n

  1. sleep
  2. a light sleep
  3. lethargy, torpor

slum·ber·ous ['sləm-b(ə-)rəs] -adj

  1. heavy with sleep : sleepy
  2. inducing slumber : soporific
  3. marked by or suggestive of a state of sleep or lethargy
    • a slumberous state of peace

slumber party -n

  1. an overnight gathering esp. of teenage girls usu. at one of their homes

slum·bery ['sləm-b(ə-)rē] -adj

  1. slumberous

slum·gul·lion ['sləm-,gəl-yən, ,sləm-'] -n

  1. a meat stew

slum·lord ['sləm-,lȯrd] -n

  1. a landlord who receives unusually large profits from substandard properties

slum·my ['slə-mē] -adj

  1. of, relating to, or suggestive of a slum
    • slummy streets

slump ['sləmp] -vi

  1. to fall or sink suddenly
  2. to drop or slide down suddenly : collapse
  3. to assume a drooping posture or carriage : slouch
  4. to go into a slump
    • sales slump ed
  5. a marked or sustained decline esp. in economic activity or prices
  6. a period of poor or losing play by a team or individual
  7. a downward slide of a mass of rock or land

slump·fla·tion [,sləmp-'flā-shən] -n

  1. a state or period of combined economic decline and rising inflation

slung ['sliŋ] -vt, n

(variant of sling)

  1. to cast with a sudden and usu. sweeping or swirling motion
    • slung the sack over my shoulder
  2. to throw with or as if with a sling
    • sling ing punches
    • political campaigners sling ing mud
  3. to serve (food) to a customer
    • had a job sling ing hamburgers
  4. an instrument for throwing stones that usu. consists of a short strap with strings fastened to its ends and is whirled round to discharge its missile by centrifugal force
  5. slingshot
  6. a usu. looped line (as of strap, chain, or rope) used to hoist, lower, or carry something
  7. a hanging bandage suspended from the neck to support an arm or hand
  8. a chain or rope attached to a lower yard at the middle and passing around a mast near the masthead to support a yard
  9. a chain hooked at the bow and stern of a boat for lowering or hoisting
  10. a device (as a rope net) for enclosing material to be hoisted by a tackle or crane
  11. a slinging or hurling of or as if of a missile
  12. to place in a sling for hoisting or lowering
  13. to suspend by or as if by a sling
  14. an alcoholic drink that is served hot or cold and that usu. consists of liquor, sugar, lemon juice, and plain or carbonated water
    • gin sling
    • rum sling

slung·shot ['sləŋ-,shät] -n

  1. a striking weapon consisting of a small mass of metal or stone fixed on a flexible handle or strap

slunk ['sliŋk] -vb

(variant of slink)

  1. to go or move stealthily or furtively (as in fear or shame) : steal
  2. to move in a sinuous provocative manner
  3. to give premature birth to used esp. of a domestic animal
    • a cow that slink s her calf
  4. the young of an animal (as a calf) brought forth prematurely
  5. the flesh or skin of such an animal
  6. born prematurely or abortively
    • a slink calf

slur ['slər] -n

  1. an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo : aspersion
  2. a shaming or degrading effect : stain, stigma
  3. a blurred spot in printed matter : smudge
  4. to cast aspersions on : disparage
    • slurred his reputation
  5. to make indistinct : obscure
  6. to slip so as to cause a slur used of a sheet being printed
  7. to slide or slip over without due mention, consideration, or emphasis
    • slurred over certain facts
  8. to perform hurriedly : skimp
    • let him not slur his lesson -- R. W. Emerson
  9. to perform (successive tones of different pitch) in a smooth or connected manner
  10. to reduce, make a substitution for, or omit (sounds that would normally occur in an utterance)
  11. to utter with such reduction, substitution, or omission of sounds
    • his speech was slurred
  12. slip, slide
  13. drag, shuffle
  14. a curved line connecting notes to be sung to the same syllable or performed without a break
  15. the combination of two or more slurred tones
  16. a slurring manner of speech

slurb ['slərb] -n

  1. a suburb of wearisomely uniform and usu. poorly constructed houses

slurp ['slərp] -vb, n

  1. to make a sucking noise while eating or drinking
  2. to eat or drink noisily or with a sucking sound

slur·ry ['slər-ē, 'slə-rē] -n

  1. a watery mixture of insoluble matter (as mud, lime, or plaster of paris)

slurry -vt

  1. to convert into a slurry

slurve ['slərv] -n

  1. a baseball pitch having the characteristics of both a slider and a curve

slush ['sləsh] -n

  1. partly melted or watery snow
  2. loose ice crystals formed during the early stages of freezing of salt water
  3. soft mud : mire
  4. refuse grease and fat from cooking esp. on shipboard
  5. paper pulp in water suspension
  6. trashy and usu. cheaply sentimental material
  7. unsolicited writings submitted (as to a magazine) for publication
  8. to wet or splash with slush
  9. to make one's way through slush
  10. to make a splashing sound

slush fund -n

  1. a fund raised from the sale of refuse to obtain small luxuries or pleasures for a warship's crew
  2. a fund for bribing public officials or carrying on corruptive propaganda
  3. an unregulated fund often used for illicit purposes

slushy ['slə-shē] -adj, n

  1. : being, involving, or resembling slush: as
  2. full of or covered with slush
    • slushy streets
  3. made up of or having the consistency of slush
    • slushy snow
  4. having a cheaply sentimental quality
    • a slushy novel

slut ['slət] -n, adj, adv

  1. a slovenly woman
  2. a promiscuous woman
  3. prostitute
  4. a saucy girl : minx

sly ['slī] -adj, adv, n

  1. wise in practical affairs
  2. displaying cleverness : ingenious
  3. clever in concealing one's aims or ends : furtive
  4. lacking in straightforwardness and candor : dissembling
  5. lightly mischievous : roguish
    • a sly jest

sly·boots ['slī-,büts] -n pl but sing in constr

  1. a sly tricky person
  2. one who is cunning or mischievous in an engaging way