slough
1 (slōō, slou)
,
also slew
(slōō)
[Middle English, from Old English slōh.]
noun
- A depression or hollow, usually filled with deep mud or mire.
- A stagnant swamp, marsh, bog, or pond, especially as part of a bayou, inlet, or backwater.
- A state of deep despair or moral degradation.
derivatives
- slough́y
- adjective
slough
2 (slŭf)
[Middle English slughe.]
noun
- The dead outer skin shed by a reptile or amphibian.
- Medicine A layer or mass of dead tissue separated from surrounding living tissue, as in a wound, sore, or inflammation.
- An outer layer or covering that is shed.
verb: sloughed, slough·ing, sloughs.
intransitive verb
- To be cast off or shed; come off: The snake's skin sloughs off.
- To shed a slough.
- Medicine To separate from surrounding living tissue. Used of dead tissue.
transitive verb
- To discard as undesirable or unfavorable; get rid of: slough off former associates.
Slough
(slou)
- A municipal borough of southeast England, a residential and industrial suburb of London.
