slough

C2+ Topic:The Human Body

US /slaʊ/ UK /slaʊ/ See IPA manual

noun verb

Meanings

1

noun
a swamp or muddy hollow, or to shed dead skin or outer layer

The wagon sank to its axles in the muddy slough.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a swamp or muddy hollow, or... bog swamp mire marsh quagmire shed cast

Word family

Related forms sloughy

Etymology

The 'swamp' sense is from Old English slōh ('mire, slough'); the verb 'shed skin' and noun 'shed skin' (rhyming with 'rough') are from Middle English slughe ('snake's skin'), of uncertain origin.

slōh Old English

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Topics

The Human Body

# slough

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** slaʊ
**IPA (UK):** slaʊ

## Meanings
1. a swamp or muddy hollow, or to shed dead skin or outer layer

## Examples
- The wagon sank to its axles in the muddy slough.

## Synonyms
- bog
- swamp
- mire
- marsh
- quagmire
- shed
- cast

## Related Forms
- sloughy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: slōh

## Etymology
The 'swamp' sense is from Old English slōh ('mire, slough'); the verb 'shed skin' and noun 'shed skin' (rhyming with 'rough') are from Middle English slughe ('snake's skin'), of uncertain origin.

## AI Etymology
Slough has this etymological history: The 'swamp' sense is from Old English slōh ('mire, slough'); the verb 'shed skin' and noun 'shed skin' (rhyming with 'rough') are from Middle English slughe ('snake's skin'), of uncertain origin. The historical chain includes Old English slōh. The quoted older senses, "swamp", "mire, slough", "shed skin", "rough", and "snake", supply the semantic anchors for slough. In present English it is used as a noun, "a swamp or muddy hollow, or to shed dead skin or outer layer". Related English forms include sloughy. The result is a noun and verb whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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slough

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