From Middle English slogh, slugh, slouh, from Proto-Germanic *sluk-, perhaps related to *sleupaną (“to slip, sneak”) (compare Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍀𐌰𐌽 (sliupan)).
Akin to Middle Low German slô (“sheath, skin on a hoof”). Perhaps also related with Old Saxon slūk (“snakeskin”), Middle High German slūch, whence German Schlauch (“waterskin, hose”).
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) The skin shed by a snake or other reptile.
That is the slough of a rattler; we must be careful.
And without more ado she stood up and shook the white wrappings from her, and came forth shining and splendid like some glittering snake when she has cast her slough; ay, and fixed her wonderful eyes upon me - more deadly than any Basilisk's - and pierced me through and through with their beauty, and sent her light laugh ringing through the air like chimes of silver bells. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
(countable, uncountable) Dead skin on a sore or ulcer.
This is the slough that came off of his skin after the burn.
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sloughs
Number=Plur
lexicographic
sluff
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lexicographic
Translations (42)
cy croen marw (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · fi (luotu) nahka (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · ota ییلان قاوی (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · de Schorf (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · fi kuollut iho (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · as মোট (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · sh krasta (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · pl wylinka (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · ar سَلْخ (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · hy խորխ (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · de Kruste (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · ru струп (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · ang insmoh (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · tr kav (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · fr mue (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · bg струпей (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · cy croen wedi'i fwrw (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · sh svlak (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · la vernatio (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · cs svlečka (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · hy խորխ (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · ota سلخ (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · grc λεβηρίς (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · fr escarre (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · ota قاو (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · pl martwa skóra (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · sh eshara (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · de abgestreifte Haut (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · tr yılan gömleği (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · ru вы́ползок (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · ru вы́ползина (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · th คราบ (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · ml പടം (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · da ham (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · fi rupi (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · sv ömsa (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · ru коро́ста (dead skin on a sore or ulcer) · cy hengroen (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · sh zmijska košuljica (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · he נשל (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · grc σῦφαρ (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile) · tr yılan kavı (the skin shed by a snake or other reptile)
From Middle English slogh, slugh, slouh, from Proto-Germanic *sluk-, perhaps related to *sleupaną (“to slip, sneak”) (compare Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍀𐌰𐌽 (sliupan)).
Akin to Middle Low German slô (“sheath, skin on a hoof”). Perhaps also related with Old Saxon slūk (“snakeskin”), Middle High German slūch, whence German Schlauch (“waterskin, hose”).
Meanings
(transitive) To shed skin or outer layers.
When Harper came back into the infirmary of the Hyperion, Alec was laboriously trying to pull on his pants. His burned skin had healed over the intervening day, the damaged layer sloughed off and quickly replaced thanks to SAM’s efforts, but the buildup of waste products in Alec’s body from the accelerated healing had left him with sore muscles and achy joints. 2017 November, N. K. Jemisin, Mac Walters, chapter 16, in Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation, 1st edition (Science Fiction), Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 293:
Snakes slough their skin periodically.
This skin is being sloughed.
(intransitive) To slide off or flake off, as an outer layer, such as skin, might do.
The mud sloughed off her palms easily […] 2013, Casey Watson, Mummy’s Little Helper: The heartrending true story of a young girl:
A week after he was burned, a layer of skin on his arm sloughed off.
An avalanche sloughing off a Utah mountainside killed a state Department of Transportation avalanche forecaster while he was surveying snow levels near a popular winter recreation area, authorities reported. 2013 April 13, Michael Mello, “Avalanche forecaster killed in Utah avalanche”, in Los Angeles Times:
1944 United States. Bureau of Mines · War Minerals Report 386. Google books
The adit penetrated the vug ... and at this level ... it was filled with material that had ... sloughed off the walls.
(transitive) To discard.
East sloughed a heart.
(US, Western, intransitive, slang) To commit truancy, be absent from school without permission.
fi kesiä (of skin, to be shed) · uk скидати (to shed (skin)) · fi sakata (card games: to discard) · cs oloupat se (of skin, to be shed) · mi whakamāunu (of skin, to be shed) · de abwerfen (to shed (skin)) · bg чистя (card games: to discard) · ru прогу́лять (to commit truancy) · uk лущитися (of skin, to be shed) · fi lintsata (to commit truancy) · de sich häuten (to shed (skin)) · ru прогу́ливать (to commit truancy) · ru сбро́сить (to shed (skin)) · cs svléci (kůži) (to shed (skin)) · ar اِنْسَلَخَ (to shed (skin)) · ru сбра́сывать (card games: to discard) · ar سَلَخَ (to shed (skin)) · uk скидати (card games: to discard) · hu vedlik (to shed (skin)) · sv kasta (card games: to discard) · ru сбро́сить (card games: to discard) · sv skolka (to commit truancy) · ru сходи́ть (of skin, to be shed) · mi kautahanga (to shed (skin)) · cs odhodit (card games: to discard) · ru сойти́ (of skin, to be shed) · sv ömsa (to shed (skin)) · cs loupat se (of skin, to be shed) · uk линяти (of skin, to be shed) · mi whakamāunu (to shed (skin)) · ru сбра́сывать (to shed (skin)) · th ลอกคราบ (to shed (skin)) · bg лющя (to shed (skin)) · de sich lösen (of skin, to be shed) · bg чупя се (to commit truancy) · bg лющя се (of skin, to be shed) · cs odlupovat se (of skin, to be shed) · fi luoda nahkansa (to shed (skin)) · de schwänzen (to commit truancy) · sh oderati (to shed (skin))
From Middle English slough (“muddy place; swamp; mire”), Old English slōh, probably from Proto-Germanic *slōhaz.
Meanings
A marshy or muddy area.
Notwithstanding this discrepancy, however, and though, taught by experience, I hastened to agree with her that the secret of her birth was not likely to be discovered in a moment, nor by so simple a process as the journey to Norwich, which I had been going to suggest, it was natural that we should often revert to the subject, and to her pretensions, and the hardship of her lot: and my curiosity and questions giving a fillip to her memory, scarcely a day passed but she recovered some new detail from the past; as at one time a service of gold-plate which she perfectly remembered she had seen on her father's sideboard; and at another time an accident that had befell her in her childhood, through her father's coach and six horses being overturned in a slough. 1897, Stanley John Weyman, chapter IV, in Shrewsbury:
"That comed - as you call it - of being arrant asses," retorted the doctor, "and not having sense enough to know honest air from poison, and the dry land from a vile, pestiferous slough. 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
(Northern-US, Southern-US) A type of swamp or shallow lake system, typically formed as or by the backwater of a larger waterway, similar to a bayou with trees.
We paddled under a canopy of trees through the slough.
At that time I had no staff officer who could be trusted with that duty. In the woods, at a short distance below the clearing, I found a depression, dry at the time, but which at high water became a slough or bayou. 1886, Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, volume 2:
(US, Western) A secondary channel of a river delta, usually flushed by the tide.
The Sacramento River Delta contains dozens of sloughs that are often used for water-skiing and fishing.
A state of depression.
John is in a slough.
(Canadian-Prairies) A small pond, often alkaline, many but not all formed by glacial potholes.
Potholes or sloughs formed by a glacier’s retreat from the central plains of North America, are now known to be some of the world’s most productive ecosystems.
bg ръкав (secondary channel of a river delta) · la palus (muddy or marshy area) · pt lamaçal (muddy or marshy area) · gl bulleiro (muddy or marshy area) · bg тресавище (muddy or marshy area) · no gjørmehull (muddy or marshy area) · fi suo (muddy or marshy area) · no myr (muddy or marshy area) · fi räme (muddy or marshy area) · cs močál (muddy or marshy area) · gl trollo (muddy or marshy area) · ga seascann (muddy or marshy area) · la lama (muddy or marshy area) · gl braña (muddy or marshy area) · ru подавленность (state of depression) · bg блато (type of swamp or shallow lake system) · fi masennus (state of depression) · bg униние (state of depression) · pl bagno (muddy or marshy area) · gl lamazal (muddy or marshy area) · pt pântano (muddy or marshy area) · bg мочурище (muddy or marshy area) · cs bažina (muddy or marshy area) · pt atoleiro (muddy or marshy area) · es agüite (state of depression) · fi sivuhaara (secondary channel of a river delta) · ota باتاق (muddy or marshy area) · ota خلاش (muddy or marshy area) · gd clàbar (muddy or marshy area) · es zanja (secondary channel of a river delta)