What does "slough" mean?
The skin shed by a snake or other reptile.
Slough
/slʌf/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The skin shed by a snake or other reptile.
- Grammar: slough is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abandon, abdicate, arm, arrest.
- Useful contrasts: arid land, dry land, ease.
- Usage evidence: A slough is a swamp or shallow lake system, usually a backwater to a larger body of water.
How to use "slough"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "slough" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "slough" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "slough" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "slough" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "slough" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abandon" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "slough", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The skin shed by a snake or other reptile. countable, uncountable
"That is the slough of a rattler; we must be careful."
- 2 A marshy or muddy area.
""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."
- 3 any outer covering that can be shed or cast off (such as the cast-off skin of a snake) wordnet
- 4 Dead skin on a sore or ulcer. countable, uncountable
"This is the slough that came off of his skin after the burn."
- 5 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. Northern-US, Southern-US
"We paddled under a canopy of trees through the slough."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 a stagnant swamp (especially as part of a bayou) wordnet
- 7 A secondary channel of a river delta, usually flushed by the tide. US, Western
"The Sacramento River Delta contains dozens of sloughs that are often used for water-skiing and fishing."
- 8 a hollow filled with mud wordnet
- 9 A state of depression.
"John is in a slough."
- 10 necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass wordnet
- 11 A small pond, often alkaline, many but not all formed by glacial potholes. Canadian-Prairies
"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."
Verb
- 1 To shed skin or outer layers. transitive
"This skin is being sloughed."
- 2 cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers wordnet
- 3 To slide off or flake off, as an outer layer, such as skin, might do. intransitive
"A week after he was burned, a layer of skin on his arm sloughed off."
- 4 To discard. transitive
"East sloughed a heart."
- 5 To commit truancy, be absent from school without permission. US, Western, intransitive, slang
Proper Noun
- 1 A town in east Berkshire, England (formerly Buckinghamshire), close to Heathrow Airport.
- 2 A unitary authority and borough of Berkshire, the Slough Borough Council.
Example
"A slough is a swamp or shallow lake system, usually a backwater to a larger body of water."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "slough"?
Common synonyms include: abandon, abdicate, arm, arrest, bay, baygall.
How do you use "slough" in a sentence?
A slough is a swamp or shallow lake system, usually a backwater to a larger body of water.
How do you pronounce "slough"?
Pronounced /slʌf/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English slough (“muddy place; swamp; mire”), Old English slōh, probably from Proto-Germanic *slōhaz.
Etymology 3
From Middle English Slo, perhaps related to the noun slough (“marsh”) (referring to the land) or to sloe (referring to bushes).