Part 62
Slouch, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Slouched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slouching.] 1. To droop, as the head.
2. To walk in a clumsy, lazy manner. [Colloq.]
Slouch, v. t. To cause to hang down; to depress at the side; as, to slouth the hat.
Slouch"ing, a. Hanging down at the side; limp; drooping; without firmness or shapeliness; moving in an ungainly manner.
Slouch"y (?), a. Slouching. [Colloq.]
Slough (?), a. Slow. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Slough (?), n. [OE. slogh, slough, AS. slh a hollow place; cf. MHG. slch 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.] A wet place; a swale; a side channel or inlet from a river. [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.
Slough"ing (?), n. (Zoöl.) The act of casting off the skin or shell, as do insects and crustaceans; ecdysis.
Slough"y (?), a. Full of sloughs, miry.
Slough"y (?), a. Resembling, or of the nature of, a slough, or the dead matter which separates from living flesh.
Slov"en (?), n. [D. slaf careless, negligent, a sloven; akin to LG. sluf slovenly.] A man or boy habitually negligent of neathess and order; -- the correlative term to slattern, or slut. Pope.
He became a confirmed sloven.
Macaulay.
Slov"en*li*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being slovenly.
Slov"en*ly, a. 1. Having the habits of a sloven; negligent of neatness and order, especially in dress.
A slovenly, lazy fellow, lolling at his ease.
L'Estrange.
2. Characteristic of a sloven; lacking neatness and order; evincing negligence; as, slovenly dress.
Slov"en*ly, adv. a slovenly manner.
Slov"en*ness, n. Slovenliness. [Obs.] Fuller.
Slov"en*ry (?), n. Slovenliness. [Obs.] Shak.
Slow (sl), obs. imp. of Slee, to slay. Slew. Chaucer.
Slow (sl), a. [Compar. Slower (?); superl. Slowest.] [OE. slow, slaw, AS. slw; akin to OS. slu blunt, dull, D. sleeuw, slee, sour, OHG. slo blunt, dull, Icel. slr, slær, Dan. slöv, Sw. slö. Cf. Sloe, and Sloth.] 1. Moving a short space in a relatively long time; not swift; not quick in motion; not rapid; moderate; deliberate; as, a slow stream; a slow motion.
2. Not happening in a short time; gradual; late.
These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.
Milton.
3. Not ready; not prompt or quick; dilatory; sluggish; as, slow of speech, and slow of tongue.
Fixed on defense, the Trojans are not slow To guard their shore from an expected foe.
Dryden.
4. Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation; tardy; inactive.
He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.
Prov. xiv. 29.
5. Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time; as, the clock or watch is slow.
6. Not advancing or improving rapidly; as, the slow growth of arts and sciences.
7. Heavy in wit; not alert, prompt, or spirited; wearisome; dull. [Colloq.] Dickens. Thackeray.
Slow is often used in the formation of compounds for the most part self-explaining; as, slow-gaited, slow- paced, slow-sighted, slow-winged, and the like.
Slow coach, a slow person. See def.7, above. [Colloq.] -- Slow lemur, or Slow loris (Zoöl.), an East Indian nocturnal lemurine animal (Nycticebus tardigradus) about the size of a small cat; -- so called from its slow and deliberate movements. It has very large round eyes and is without a tail. Called also bashful Billy. -- Slow match. See under Match.
Syn. -- Dilatory; late; lingering; tardy; sluggish; dull; inactive. -- Slow, Tardy, Dilatory. Slow is the wider term, denoting either a want of rapid motion or inertness of intellect. Dilatory signifies a proneness to defer, a habit of delaying the performance of what we know must be done. Tardy denotes the habit of being behind hand; as, tardy in making up one's acounts.
Slow, adv. Slowly.
Let him have time to mark how slow time goes In time of sorrow.
Shak.
Slow, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slowed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slowing.] To render slow; to slacken the speed of; to retard; to delay; as, to slow a steamer. Shak.
Slow, v. i. To go slower; -- often with up; as, the train slowed up before crossing the bridge.
Slow, n. A moth. [Obs.] Rom. of R.
Slow"back` (?), n. A lubber; an idle fellow; a loiterer. [Old Slang] Dr. Favour.
Slowh (?), obs. imp. of Slee,to slay. Chaucer.
Slow"hound` (?), n. A sleuthhound. [R.]
Slow"ly, adv. In a slow manner; moderately; not rapidly; not early; not rashly; not readly; tardly.
Slow"ness, n. The quality or state of being slow.
Slows (?), n. (Med.) Milk sickness.
Slow"-wit`ted (?), a. Dull of apprehension; not possessing quick intelligence.
Slow"worm` (?), n. [AS. slwyrm; the first part is probably akin to sleán to strike, the reptile being supposed to be very poisonous. See Slay, v. t., and Worm.] (Zoöl.) A lecertilian reptile; the blindworm.
Slub (?), n. [Etymol. uncertain.] A roll of wool slightly twisted; a rove; -- called also slubbing.
Slub, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slubbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slubbing.] To draw out and twist slightly; -- said of slivers of wool.
Slub"ber (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slubbered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slubbering.] [Cf. Dan. slubbreto swallow, to sup up, D. slobberen to lap, to slabber. Cf. Slabber.] 1. To do lazily, imperfectly, or coarsely.
Slubber not business for my sake.
Shak.
2. To daub; to stain; to cover carelessly.
There is no art that hath more . . . slubbered with aphorisming pedantry than the art of policy.
Milton.
Slub"ber, n. A slubbing machine.
Slub"ber*de*gul`lion (?), n. [Slubber + Prov. E. gullion a wretch.] A mean, dirty wretch. [Low]
Slub"ber*ing*ly, adv. In a slovenly, or hurried and imperfect, manner. [Low] Drayton.
Slub"bing (?), a. & n. from Slub.
Slubbing billy, or Slubbing machine, the machine by which slubs are formed.
Sludge (?), n. [CF. Slush.] 1. Mud; mire; soft mud; slush. Mortimer. Tennyson.
2. Small floating pieces of ice, or masses of saturated snow. Kane.
3. (Mining) See Slime, 4.
Sludge hole, the hand-hole, or manhole, in a steam boiler, by means of which sediment can be removed.
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Slud"ger (slj"r), n. A bucket for removing mud from a bored hole; a sand pump.
Slud"y (?), a. Miry; slushy.
Slue (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slued (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Sluing (&?;).] [Prov. E. slew to turn round, Scot. to lean or incline to a side; cf. Icel. sn&?;a to turn, bend.] [Written also slew.] 1. (Naut.) To turn about a fixed point, usually the center or axis, as a spar or piece of timber; to turn; -- used also of any heavy body.
2. In general, to turn about; to twist; -- often used reflexively and followed by round. [Colloq.]
They laughed, and slued themselves round.
Dickens.
Slue, v. i. To turn about; to turn from the course; to slip or slide and turn from an expected or desired course; -- often followed by round.
Slue, n. See Sloough, 2. [Local]
Slug (?), n. [OE. slugge slothful, sluggen to be slothful; cf. LG. slukk low- spirited, sad, E. slack, slouch, D. slak, slek, a snail.] 1. A drone; a slow, lazy fellow; a sluggard. Shak.
2. A hindrance; an obstruction. [Obs.] Bacon.
3. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of terrestrial pulmonate mollusks belonging to Limax and several related genera, in which the shell is either small and concealed in the mantle, or altogether wanting. They are closely allied to the land snails.
4. (Zoöl.) Any smooth, soft larva of a sawfly or moth which creeps like a mollusk; as, the pear slug; rose slug.
5. A ship that sails slowly. [Obs.] Halliwell.
His rendezvous for his fleet, and for all slugs to come to, should be between Calais and Dover.
Pepys.
6. [Perhaps a different word.] An irregularly shaped piece of metal, used as a missile for a gun.
7. (Print.) A thick strip of metal less than type high, and as long as the width of a column or a page, -- used in spacing out pages and to separate display lines, etc.
Sea slug. (Zoöl.) (a) Any nudibranch mollusk. (b) A holothurian. -- Slug caterpillar. Same as Slugworm.
Slug, v. i. To move slowly; to lie idle. [Obs.]
To slug in sloth and sensual delight.
Spenser.
Slug, v. t. To make sluggish. [Obs.] Milton.
Slug, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slugged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slugging (?).] 1. To load with a slug or slugs; as, to slug a gun.
2. To strike heavily. [Cant or Slang]
Slug, v. i. To become reduced in diameter, or changed in shape, by passing from a larger to a smaller part of the bore of the barrel; -- said of a bullet when fired from a gun, pistol, or other firearm.
Slug"a*bed` (?), n. One who indulges in lying abed; a sluggard. [R.] "Fie, you slugabed!" Shak.
Slug"gard (?), n. [Slug + - ard.] A person habitually lazy, idle, and inactive; a drone.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
Prov. vi. 6.
Slug"gard, a. Sluggish; lazy. Dryden.
Slug"gard*ize (?), v. t. To make lazy. [R.] Shak.
Slug"gard*y (?), n. [OE. sloggardye.] The state of being a sluggard; sluggishness; sloth. Gower.
Idleness is rotten sluggardy.
Chaucer.
Slug"ger (?), n. One who strikes heavy blows; hence, a boxer; a prize fighter. [Cant or Slang]
Slug"gish (?), a. 1. Habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive; as, a sluggish man.
2. Slow; having little motion; as, a sluggish stream.
3. Having no power to move one's self or itself; inert.
Matter, being impotent, sluggish, and inactive, hath no power to stir or move itself.
Woodward.
And the sluggish land slumbers in utter neglect.
Longfellow.
4. Characteristic of a sluggard; dull; stupid; tame; simple. [R.] "So sluggish a conceit." Milton.
Syn. -- Inert; idle; lazy; slothful; indolent; dronish; slow; dull; drowsy; inactive. See Inert.
-- Slug"gish*ly, adv. -- Slug"gish*ness, n.
Slug"gy (?), a. Sluggish. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Slug"-horn` (?), a. An erroneous form of the Scotch word slughorne, or sloggorne, meaning slogan.
Slugs (?), n. pl. (Mining) Half-roasted ore.
Slug"worm` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any caterpillar which has the general appearance of a slug, as do those of certain moths belonging to Limacodes and allied genera, and those of certain sawflies.
Sluice (?), n. [OF. escluse, F. écluse, LL. exclusa, sclusa, from L. excludere, exclusum, to shut out: cf. D. sluis sluice, from the Old French. See Exclude.] 1. An artifical passage for water, fitted with a valve or gate, as in a mill stream, for stopping or regulating the flow; also, a water gate or flood gate.
2. Hence, an opening or channel through which anything flows; a source of supply.
Each sluice of affluent fortune opened soon.
Harte.
This home familiarity . . . opens the sluices of sensibility.
I. Taylor.
3. The stream flowing through a flood gate.
4. (Mining) A long box or trough through which water flows, -- used for washing auriferous earth.
Sluice gate, the sliding gate of a sluice.
Sluice, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sluiced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Sluicing (?).] 1. To emit by, or as by, flood gates. [R.] Milton.
2. To wet copiously, as by opening a sluice; as, to sluice meadows. Howitt.
He dried his neck and face, which he had been sluicing with cold water.
De Quincey.
3. To wash with, or in, a stream of water running through a sluice; as, to sluice eart or gold dust in mining.
Sluice"way` (?), n. An artificial channel into which water is let by a sluice; specifically, a trough constructed over the bed of a stream, so that logs, lumber, or rubbish can be floated down to some convenient place of delivery.
Slui`cy (?), a. Falling copiously or in streams, as from a sluice.
And oft whole sheets descend of sluicy rain.
Dryden.
Slum (?), n. [CF. Slump, n.] 1. A foul back street of a city, especially one filled with a poor, dirty, degraded, and often vicious population; any low neighborhood or dark retreat; -- usually in the plural; as, Westminster slums are haunts for theives. Dickens.
2. pl. (Mining) Same as Slimes.
Slum"ber (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Slumbered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slumbering.] [OE. slombren, slumberen, slumeren, AS. slumerian, fr. sluma slumber; akin to D. sluimeren to slumber, MHG. slummern, slumen, G. schlummern, Dan. slumre, Sw. slumra, Goth. slawan to be silent.] 1. To sleep; especially, to sleep lightly; to doze. Piers Plowman.
He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
Ps. cxxi. 4.
2. To be in a state of negligence, sloth, supineness, or inactivity. "Why slumbers Pope?" Young.
Slum"ber, v. t. 1. To lay to sleep. [R.] Wotton.
2. To stun; to stupefy. [Obs.] Spenser.
Slum"ber, n. Sleep; especially, light sleep; sleep that is not deep or sound; repose.
He at last fell into a slumber, and thence into a fast sleep, which detained him in that place until it was almost night.
Bunyan.
Fast asleep? It is no matter; Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber.
Shak.
Rest to my soul, and slumber to my eyes.
Dryden.
Slum"ber*er (?), n. One who slumbers; a sleeper.
Slum"ber*ing*ly, adv. In a slumbering manner.
Slum"ber*less, a. Without slumber; sleepless.
Slum"ber*ous (?), a. 1. Inviting slumber; soporiferous. "Pensive in the slumberous shade." Pope.
2. Being in the repose of slumber; sleepy; drowsy.
His quiet and almost slumberous countenance.
Hawthorne.
Slum"ber*y (?), a. Sleepy. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Slum"brous (?), a. Slumberous. Keats.
Slum"ming, vb. n. Visiting slums.
Slump (?), n. [Cf. D. slomp a mass, heap, Dan. slump a quantity, and E. slump, v.t.] The gross amount; the mass; the lump. [Scot.]
Slump, v. t. [Cf. Lump; also Sw. slumpa to bargain for the lump.] To lump; to throw into a mess.
These different groups . . . are exclusively slumped together under that sense.
Sir W. Hamilton.
Slump, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Slumped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slumping.] [Scot. slump a dull noise produced by something falling into a hole, a marsh, a swamp.] To fall or sink suddenly through or in, when walking on a surface, as on thawing snow or ice, partly frozen ground, a bog, etc., not strong enough to bear the person.
The latter walk on a bottomless quag, into which unawares they may slump.
Barrow.
Slump, n. 1. A boggy place. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
2. The noise made by anything falling into a hole, or into a soft, miry place. [Scot.]
Slump"y (?), a. Easily broken through; boggy; marshy; swampy. [Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U.S.] Bartlett.
Slung (?), imp. & p. p. of Sling.
Slung shot, a metal ball of small size, with a string attached, used by ruffians for striking.
Slunk (?), imp. & p. p. of Slink.
Slur (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slurred (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slurring (?).] [Cf. OE. sloor mud, clay, Icel. sl&?;ra, slo&?;ra, to trail or drag one's self along, D. sleuren, sloren, to train, to drag, to do negligently and slovenly, D. sloor, sloerie, a sluttish girl.] 1. To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace. Cudworth.
2. To disparage; to traduce. Tennyson.
3. To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice.
With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes.
Dryden.
4. To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick. [R.]
To slur men of what they fought for.
Hudibras.
5. To pronounce indistinctly; as, to slur syllables.
6. (Mus.) To sing or perform in a smooth, gliding style; to connect smoothly in performing, as several notes or tones. Busby.
7. (Print.) To blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle.
Slur, n. 1. A mark or stain; hence, a slight reproach or disgrace; a stigma; a reproachful intimation; an innuendo. "Gaining to his name a lasting slur." South.
2. A trick played upon a person; an imposition. [R.]
3. (Mus.) A mark, thus [ or ], connecting notes that are to be sung to the same syllable, or made in one continued breath of a wind instrument, or with one stroke of a bow; a tie; a sign of legato.
4. In knitting machines, a contrivance for depressing the sinkers successively by passing over them.
Slurred (?), a. (Mus.) Marked with a slur; performed in a smooth, gliding style, like notes marked with a slur.
Slush (?), n. [Cf. Sw. slaska to paddle in water, slask wet, filth.] [Written also slosh.] 1. Soft mud.
2. A mixture of snow and water; half-melted snow.
3. A soft mixture of grease and other materials, used for lubrication.
4. The refuse grease and fat collected in cooking, especially on shipboard.
5. (Mach.) A mixture of white lead and lime, with which the bright parts of machines, such as the connecting rods of steamboats, are painted to be preserved from oxidation.
Slush (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slushed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Slushing.] 1. To smear with slush or grease; as, to slush a mast.
2. To paint with a mixture of white lead and lime.
Slush"y (?), a. Abounding in slush; characterized by soft mud or half-melted snow; as, the streets are slushy; the snow is slushy. "A dark, drizzling, slushy day." Blackw. Mag.
Slut (?), n. [OE. slutte; cf. OD. slodde a slut, Icel. slöttr a heavy, loglike fellow, slota to droop.] 1. An untidy woman; a slattern.
Sluts are good enough to make a sloven's porridge.
Old Proverb.
2. A servant girl; a drudge. [Obs.]
Our little girl Susan is a most admirable slut, and pleases us mightly, doing more service than both the others.
Pepys.
3. A female dog; a bitch.
Slutch (?), n. [CF. Sludge.] Slush. [Prov. Eng.]
Slutch"y (?), a. Slushy. [Prov. Eng.] Pennant.
Sluth"hound` (?), n. Sleuthhound.
Slut"ter*y (?), n. The qualities and practices of a slut; sluttishness; slatternlines. Drayton.
Slut"tish (?), a. Like a slut; untidy; indecently negligent of cleanliness; disorderly; as, a sluttish woman.
Why is thy lord so slutish, I thee pray.
Chaucer.
An air of liberal, though sluttish, plenty, indicated the wealthy farmer.
Sir W. Scott.
-- Slut"tish*ly, adv. -- Slut"tish*ness, n.
Sly (?), a. [Compar. Slier (?) or Slyer; superl. Sliest or Slyest.] [OE. sli, slegh, sleih, Icel sl&?;gr, for sl&?;gr; akin to Sw. slug, Dan. slu, LG. slou, G. schlau; probably to E. slay, v.t.; cf. G. verschlagen sly. See Slay, v. t., and cf. Sleight.] 1. Dexterous in performing an action, so as to escape notice; nimble; skillful; cautious; shrewd; knowing; -- in a good sense.
Be ye sly as serpents, and simple as doves.
Wyclif (Matt. x. 16).
Whom graver age And long experience hath made wise and sly.
Fairfax.
2. Artfully cunning; secretly mischievous; wily.
For my sly wiles and subtle craftiness, The litle of the kingdom I possess.
Spenser.
3. Done with, and marked by, artful and dexterous secrecy; subtle; as, a sly trick.
Envy works in a sly and imperceptible manner.
I. Watts.
4. Light or delicate; slight; thin. [Obs.]
By the sly, or On the sly, in a sly or secret manner. [Colloq.] "Gazed on Hetty's charms by the sly." G. Eliot. -- Sly goose (Zoöl.), the common sheldrake; -- so named from its craftiness.
Syn. -- Cunning; crafty; subtile; wily. See Cunning.
Sly, adv. Slyly. [Obs. or Poetic] Spenser.
Sly"boots` (?), n. A humerous appellation for a sly, cunning, or waggish person.
Slyboots was cursedly cunning to hide 'em.
Goldsmith.
Sly"ly, adv. In a sly manner; shrewdly; craftily.
Honestly and slyly he it spent.
Chaucer.
Sly"ness, n. The quality or state of being sly.
Slype (?), n. [Cf. D. sluipen to sneak.] (Arch.) A narrow passage between two buildings, as between the transept and chapter house of a monastery. [Eng.]
Smack (?), n. [D. smak; akin to LG. smack, smak, Dan. smakke, G. schmacke, F. semaque.] (Naut.) A small sailing vessel, commonly rigged as a sloop, used chiefly in the coasting and fishing trade.
Smack, n. [OE. smak, AS. ssm&?;c taste, savor; akin to D. smaak, G. geschmack, OHG. smac; cf. Lith. smagus pleasant. Cf. Smack, v. i.] 1. Taste or flavor, esp. a slight taste or flavor; savor; tincture; as, a smack of bitter in the medicine. Also used figuratively.
So quickly they have taken a smack in covetousness.
Robynson (More's Utopia).
They felt the smack of this world.
Latimer.
2. A small quantity; a taste. Dryden.
3. A loud kiss; a buss. "A clamorous smack." Shak.
4. A quick, sharp noise, as of the lips when suddenly separated, or of a whip.
5. A quick, smart blow; a slap. Johnson.
Smack, adv. As if with a smack or slap. [Colloq.]
Smack, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Smacked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Smacking.] [OE. smaken to taste, have a taste, -- from the noun; cf. AS. smecan taste; akin to D. smaken, G. schmecken, OHG. smechen to taste, smach&?;n to have a taste (and, derived from the same source, G. schmatzen to smack the lips, to kiss with a sharp noise, MHG. smatzen, smackzeen), Icel smakka to taste, Sw. smaka, Dan. smage. See 2d Smack, n.] 1. To have a smack; to be tinctured with any particular taste.
2. To have or exhibit indications of the presence of any character or quality.
All sects, all ages, smack of this vice.
Shak.
3. To kiss with a close compression of the lips, so as to make a sound when they separate; to kiss with a sharp noise; to buss.
4. To make a noise by the separation of the lips after tasting anything.
Smack, v. t. 1. To kiss with a sharp noise; to buss.
2. To open, as the lips, with an inarticulate sound made by a quick compression and separation of the parts of the mouth; to make a noise with, as the lips, by separating them in the act of kissing or after tasting.
Drinking off the cup, and smacking his lips with an air of ineffable relish.
Sir W. Scott.
3. To make a sharp noise by striking; to crack; as, to smack a whip. "She smacks the silken thong." Young.
Smack"ing, n. A sharp, quick noise; a smack.
Like the faint smacking of an after kiss.
Dryden.
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Smack"ing (?), a. Making a sharp, brisk sound; hence, brisk; as, a smacking breeze.