Sloom
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A gentle sleep; slumber.
- 1 To sleep lightly, to doze, to nod; to be half-asleep. Scotland
"The squire sloomed and slept in his chair; and finally, after a cup of tea, went to bed."
- 2 To soften or rot with damp. (of plants or soil)
"He adds, that one hundred bolls, or fifty quarters of wheat may be thrashed in a day of eight hours, unless the grain has been sloomed or mildewed; […]"
Example
More examples"The squire sloomed and slept in his chair; and finally, after a cup of tea, went to bed."
Etymology
From Middle English *sloume, sloumbe, slume, from Old English sluma (“sleep, slumber”), from Proto-Germanic *slūm- (“to be slack, loose, or limp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“limp, flabby”). Compare slumber and Dutch sloom.
From Middle English slumen, slummen, from Old English *slūmian (“to slumber, sleep gently”), from Proto-Germanic *slūm- (“to be slack, loose, or limp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“limp, flabby”).
More for "sloom"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.