slough

¹

or sluff

[ sluhf ]

noun

1. the outer layer of the skin of a snake, which is cast off periodically.
2. Pathology. a mass or layer of dead tissue separated from the surrounding or underlying tissue.
3. anything that is shed or cast off.
4. Cards. a discard.

verb (used without object)

1. to be or become shed or cast off, as the slough of a snake.
2. to cast off a slough.

   Synonyms: molt

3. Pathology. to separate from the sound flesh, as a slough.
4. Cards. to discard a card or cards.

verb (used with object)

1. to dispose or get rid of; cast (often followed by off ):

   to slough off a bad habit.

2. to shed as or like a slough.
3. Cards. to discard (cards).

verb phrase

1. to treat as slight or trivial:

   to slough over a friend's mistake.

slough

²

[ slou, sloo ]

noun

1. a swamp or swamplike region.
2. Also slew, slue. Northern U.S. and Canada. a usually shallow and slow-moving marshy or reedy body of water, such as one that provides drainage; wetland.
3. a hole full of mud or wet soil, such as one in a road.
4. a condition of degradation, despair, or helplessness:

   Exercise was one thing that helped to lift me out of the slough of depression.

slough

¹

/ slʌf /

noun

1. any outer covering that is shed, such as the dead outer layer of the skin of a snake, the cellular debris in a wound, etc
2. Alsosluff bridge a discarded card

verb

1. often foll by off to shed (a skin, etc) or (of a skin, etc) to be shed
2. Alsosluff bridge to discard (a card or cards)

Slough

²

/ slaʊ /

noun

1. an industrial town in SE central England, in Slough unitary authority, Berkshire; food products, high-tech industries. Pop: 126 276 (2001)
2. a unitary authority in SE central England, in Berkshire. Pop: 118 800 (2003 est). Area: 28 sq km (11 sq miles)

slough

³

/ slaʊ /

noun

1. a hollow filled with mud; bog
2. sluː
   1. (in the prairies) a large hole where water collects or the water in such a hole
   2. (in the northwest) a sluggish side channel of a river
   3. (on the Pacific coast) a marshy saltwater inlet
3. despair or degradation

slough

/ slŭf /

Noun

1. The dead outer skin shed by a reptile or an amphibian.

Verb

1. To shed an outer layer of skin.

Derived Forms

• ˈsloughy, adjective
• ˈsloughy, adjective

Other Words From

• sloughi·ness noun
• sloughy adjective
• un·sloughed adjective
• un·sloughing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slough¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English slough, slugh(e), slouh “skin of a snake”; cognate with Low German sluwe, slu “husk, peel,” German Schlauch “skin, wineskin, bag”

Origin of slough²

First recorded before 900; Middle English slough(e), slouh(e) “muddy place, mud hole,” Old English slōh, slōg; cognate with Middle Low German slōch, Middle High German sluoche “ditch”; further origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of slough¹

C13: of Germanic origin; compare Middle Low German slū husk, German Schlauch hose, Norwegian slō fleshy part of a horn

Origin of slough²

Old English slōh; related to Middle High German sluoche ditch, Swedish slaga swamp

Example Sentences

Slough away dead skin cells, dirt, and impurities with this powerful daily peel.

From Popular-Science

A few years after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, it’s still strictly segregated between Catholics and Protestants and stuck in an economic slough so old it’s covered in mold.

From Washington Post

We lived on the Old West Side near Lake Sacajawea, which was nothing more than a dredged-out slough full of carp and muskrat.

From Ozy

In Sydney it was across the Harbor, in London it was outside the city in Basildon or Slough.

From The Daily Beast

He forces a patient to submit to radiation therapy, even as it makes her skin slough off her body.

From The Daily Beast

A week after the inauguration, his wife, Lady Bird, watched with worry as a “slough of despond” surrounded her husband.

From The Daily Beast

They would get weird diseases where the flesh on their faces would slough off.

From The Daily Beast

He began to be afraid lest he might be overwhelmed in this slough of a petty, useless, and vicious existence.

From Project Gutenberg

Because he had sunk into the slough of despond, he would be heedless of the mud that gathered on his garments.

From Project Gutenberg

"It sounds pretty bad," admitted Heavy, coming out of her momentary slough of despond.

From Project Gutenberg

She had taken us up in her great strong arms and carried us over the slough of difficulty, turning the whole tide in our favor.

From Project Gutenberg

The most subtly painted serpent casts ultimately its slough.

From Project Gutenberg