slough 1 (sl , slou) also slew (sl)
n.
1. A depression or hollow, usually filled with deep mud or mire.
2. also slue A stagnant swamp, marsh, bog, or pond, especially as part of a bayou, inlet, or backwater.
3. A state of deep despair or moral degradation.
[Middle English, from Old English sl
 h.]
slough
 y adj. |
slough 2 (sl f)
n.
1. The dead outer skin shed by a reptile or amphibian.
2. Medicine A layer or mass of dead tissue separated from surrounding living tissue, as in a wound, sore, or inflammation.
3. An outer layer or covering that is shed.
v. sloughed, slough·ing, sloughs
v.intr.
1. To be cast off or shed; come off: The snake's skin sloughs off.
2. To shed a slough.
3. Medicine To separate from surrounding living tissue. Used of dead tissue.
v.tr.
To discard as undesirable or unfavorable; get rid of: slough off former associates.
[Middle English slughe.]
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published byHoughton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
When Ann read the sentence, "Swede soughed in defeat," she tripped over the pronunciation because she was familiar with "slough" as in a snake sloughing its skin and "slough" pronounced "sloo" as in a stagnant swamp, but neither seemed to make sense in this context, probably because it was being used metaphorically.
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