slush

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   partly melted snow or ice, especially when lying wet and dirty on the ground

   The luggage cart rattled through gray slush outside the station.

2. 2
   noun

   a thick drink made from crushed ice and a flavored liquid; chiefly American English

   He bought a cherry slush from the concession stand.

3. 3
   noun

   language, writing, or entertainment considered excessively emotional and sentimental

   The critic dismissed the final scene as romantic slush.

4. 4
   verb

   to splash, spill, or move through liquid in a clumsy way

   Water slushed over the rim as he carried the bucket upstairs.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Slush, recorded from the mid-17th century, probably imitates the sound made by walking through it; sludge probably arose similarly, and slosh is a later variant of slush. Sailors also used slush for fat left in the pot after meat was boiled for the crew. Selling this fat provided money for crew luxuries and produced the term slush fund in the mid-19th century; by the late 19th century, the phrase could mean money used as a bribe.

Of uncertain origin, probably influenced by both sludge and the imitative slosh. The central image is a loose, wet mass; the drink sense follows its texture, while the figurative sense likens excessive sentiment to shapeless mush.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary