Slum

//slʌm// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A dilapidated neighborhood where many people live in a state of poverty. countable, derogatory

    "Go 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 […]"

  2. 2
    Slumgullion; a meat-based stew. slang, uncountable
  3. 3
    Nonsense; humbug. UK, obsolete, slang, uncountable

    "And this, without more slum began, / Over a flowing pot-house can, / To settle, without botheration, / The rigs of this here tip-top nation."

  4. 4
    a district of a city marked by poverty and inferior living conditions wordnet
  5. 5
    Inexpensive trinkets awarded as prizes in a carnival game. slang, uncountable

    "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."

Verb
  1. 1
    To visit a neighborhood of a status below one's own. intransitive

    "When you meet the girl who wouldn't et cetera you will tell her that you are slumming, visiting your own six A.M. Lower East Side of the soul on a lark, stepping nimbly between the piles of garbage to the gay marimba rhythms in your head."

  2. 2
    spend time at a lower socio-economic level than one's own, motivated by curiosity or desire for adventure; usage considered condescending and insensitive wordnet
  3. 3
    To saunter about in a disreputable manner. UK, dated, intransitive, slang

Etymology

Etymology 1

First attested in 1812. originally slang, in the sense "room", especially "backroom", of unknown origin.

Etymology 2

First attested in 1812. originally slang, in the sense "room", especially "backroom", of unknown origin.

Etymology 3

See slumgullion.

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