slum en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /slʌm/
Etymology
First attested in 1812. Originally slang, in the sense "room", especially "backroom", of unknown origin.
Meanings
-
(countable, derogatory) A dilapidated neighborhood where many people live in a state of poverty.
Pearson's London was what we now call central London, and much of it was slums. Today most of us wouldn't say no to a pied à terre in Clerkenwell, but in 1850 it was a slum. Drury Lane? A slum. Seven Dials and Covent Garden? Holborn and Finsbury? Slums.
2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 16:I saw that most of those who were spending from eight to fifteen pounds monthly had the advantage of scholarships. I had before me examples of much simpler living. I came across a fair number of poor students living more humbly than I. One of them was staying in the slums in a room at two shillings a week and living on two pence worth of cocoa and bread per meal from Lockhart's cheap Cocoa Rooms.
1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xviGo to the half built-upon slums behind Battlebridge […] you will find groups of boys […] squatting in the mud, among the rubbish, the broken bricks, the dust-heaps, and the fragments of timber […]
1855, Charles Dickens, “Gambling”, in Household Words, volume 31:Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.
1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:
-
(slang, uncountable) Inexpensive trinkets awarded as prizes in a carnival game.
The lower the price of slum the better it is for the operator who can either give more of it out or build up the size of his big prizes. It is the big prizes that bring the play, even though the winner has to be satisfied with a piece of slum for his efforts.
1956, Theron Fox, How to Make Money with Carnival Games, page 58:Another hanky pank is the darts and balloons. No gaffs, no grift, nothing phoney. Game for the kids and the family. Get a dozen gross of slum and pass it out to the kids, and everybody'll love you.
1976, Mary Carey, George Sherman, A compendium of bunk: or, How to spot a con artist:Making twenty times his investment in only seconds, the concessionaire smiled as he awarded the nickel slum, often a stuffed worm, to each unwitting pigeon.
2009, Richard Margittay, Carnival Games: the Perfect Crimes, →ISBN:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| slums | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
slum-ridden · slum dweller · slumification · slumdweller · slumland · slumism · slummification · Slumbai · backslum · slumward · slumwards · slumlike · slumdom · slumburb · slummy · slummism · slum-dweller · slummer · slumhood · Slumbay · slumlady · slumdog · slumridden · slumness · slumlord
Descendants
slum · slum · slum · slummi · slum · slums · Slum
Holonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Meronyms
street · flophouse · building · tenement · doss-house
Relateds
Synonyms
sink estate · barrio · bad part of town · jects · favela · ghetto · Hell's Kitchen · shantytown · estate · scheme · projects · slum
Translations (94)
ta சேரி (dilapidated neighborhood) · da slumkvarter (dilapidated neighborhood) · th สลัม (dilapidated neighborhood) · pt musseque (dilapidated neighborhood) · da slum (dilapidated neighborhood) · es cantegril (dilapidated neighborhood) · es barrio marginal (dilapidated neighborhood) · ko 빈민가 (dilapidated neighborhood) · ja スラム (dilapidated neighborhood) · sv slum (dilapidated neighborhood) · es barriada de emergencia (dilapidated neighborhood) · km រោរព (dilapidated neighborhood) · pt bairro de lata (dilapidated neighborhood) · ur بستی (dilapidated neighborhood) · es población callampa (dilapidated neighborhood) · gu સ્લમ (dilapidated neighborhood) · sw kitongoji duni (dilapidated neighborhood) · nl sloppenwijk (dilapidated neighborhood) · de Elendsviertel (dilapidated neighborhood) · nl krottenwijk (dilapidated neighborhood) · th ชุมชนแออัด (dilapidated neighborhood) · lv grausti (dilapidated neighborhood) · oc barri de barracas (dilapidated neighborhood) · te మురికివాడ (dilapidated neighborhood) · yi אָרעמקייט־קוואַרטאַל (dilapidated neighborhood) · es colonia de paracaidistas (dilapidated neighborhood) · es barrio pobre (dilapidated neighborhood) · uk трущо́ба (dilapidated neighborhood) · es pueblo joven (dilapidated neighborhood) · id kawasan kumuh (dilapidated neighborhood) · vo pöfanaharat (dilapidated neighborhood) · fr bidonville (dilapidated neighborhood) · vo luharat (dilapidated neighborhood) · mk слам (dilapidated neighborhood) · vo slöm (dilapidated neighborhood) · tr gecekondu mahallesi (dilapidated neighborhood) · ru трущо́ба (dilapidated neighborhood) · fa زاغه (dilapidated neighborhood) · ko 빈민굴 (dilapidated neighborhood) · es barrio (dilapidated neighborhood) · es barrio bajo (dilapidated neighborhood) · es villa (dilapidated neighborhood) · yi אָרעמקייט־גאַס (dilapidated neighborhood) · hi गंदी बस्ती (dilapidated neighborhood) · mk тенеќе-маало (dilapidated neighborhood) · hu nyomornegyed (dilapidated neighborhood) · es precario (dilapidated neighborhood) · es barrio de chabolas (dilapidated neighborhood) · no slum (dilapidated neighborhood) · ja 貧民街 (dilapidated neighborhood) · vi khu ổ chuột (dilapidated neighborhood) · uk не́трі (dilapidated neighborhood) · el φτωχογειτονιά (dilapidated neighborhood) · hi बस्ती (dilapidated neighborhood) · de Slum (dilapidated neighborhood) · ro mahala (dilapidated neighborhood) · vi ổ chuột (dilapidated neighborhood) · el παραγκούπολη (dilapidated neighborhood) · bn বস্তি (dilapidated neighborhood) · eo kvartalaĉo (dilapidated neighborhood) · yi דלות־קוואַרטאַל (dilapidated neighborhood) · de Armensiedlung (dilapidated neighborhood) · pt favela (dilapidated neighborhood) · ko 슬럼 (dilapidated neighborhood) · ja 貧民窟 (dilapidated neighborhood) · it bassofondo (dilapidated neighborhood) · es tugurio (dilapidated neighborhood) · es barriada bruja (dilapidated neighborhood) · es ciudad perdida (dilapidated neighborhood) · fi slummi (dilapidated neighborhood) · ar مِنْطَقَة عَشْوَائِيَّة (dilapidated neighborhood) · tr gecekondu bölgesi (dilapidated neighborhood) · lt lūšnynas (dilapidated neighborhood) · es asentamiento (dilapidated neighborhood) · yi דלות־געגנט (dilapidated neighborhood) · be трушчо́ба (dilapidated neighborhood) · vo luslöm (dilapidated neighborhood) · es colonia proletaria (dilapidated neighborhood) · id kawasan papa (dilapidated neighborhood) · tr kenar mahalle (dilapidated neighborhood) · es asentamiento humano (dilapidated neighborhood) · cmn 貧民窟 /贫民窟 (dilapidated neighborhood) · it baraccopoli (dilapidated neighborhood) · cs slum (dilapidated neighborhood) · es villa miseria (dilapidated neighborhood) · cmn 棚戶區 /棚户区 (dilapidated neighborhood) · es barrio periférico (dilapidated neighborhood) · lv grausts (dilapidated neighborhood) · bg беден квартал (dilapidated neighborhood) · ms setinggan (dilapidated neighborhood) · cmn 貧民區 /贫民区 (dilapidated neighborhood) · pl slums (dilapidated neighborhood) · yi טרושטשאָבע־גאַס (dilapidated neighborhood) · ro ghetou (dilapidated neighborhood)