slavery
Americannoun
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the condition of being enslaved, held, or owned as human chattel or property; bondage.
- Synonyms:
- enthrallment, thralldom
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a practice or institution that treats or recognizes some human beings as the legal property of others.
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a state of subjection like that of a slave.
He longed to escape the slavery of drug addiction.
-
severe toil; drudgery.
noun
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the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune
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the subjection of a person to another person, esp in being forced into work
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the condition of being subject to some influence or habit
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work done in harsh conditions for low pay
Related Words
Slavery, bondage, servitude refer to involuntary subjection to another or others. Slavery emphasizes the idea of complete ownership and control by an owner or master: to be sold into slavery. Bondage indicates a state of subjugation or captivity often involving burdensome and degrading labor: in bondage to a cruel master. Servitude is compulsory service, often such as is required by a legal penalty: penal servitude.
Other Word Forms
- preslavery adjective
Etymology
Origin of slavery
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.
Countries affected by slavery have been asking for reparations for more than a century.
From BBC
Ghana's President John Mahama, one of the African Union's most vocal supporters of slavery reparations, was at the United Nations headquarters in New York to support the vote.
From Barron's
In a famous speech on independence day, in front of Belgian dignitaries including King Baudouin, Lumumba, aged 34, castigated Belgium saying that the Congolese had been held in "humiliating slavery".
From BBC
Four people went on to be referred to the Home Office as potential victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.
From BBC
The rollout of “Emancipation,” the story of the man whose scarred back is one of the most lasting images associated with American chattel slavery, is its most serious test yet.
From Salon
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.
