Meanings
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1
verb
to let saliva run from the mouth; to drool or slobber
The hungry hound began to slaver at the smell of meat.
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2
verb
to behave with excessive eagerness or servile flattery
The courtiers slavered over every remark the celebrity made.
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3
noun
a person who holds enslaved people or participates in the slave trade
The captured slaver was prosecuted for trafficking human beings.
Thesaurus
Etymology
The drooling verb comes from Middle English slaveren and Old Norse slafra, probably imitative. The noun meaning a slave trader is a separate formation from slave + -er; the two senses are homographs.