Webster's Dictionary, 1913
Slot machine A machine the operation of which is started by dropping a coin into a slot, for delivering small articles of merchandise, showing one's weight, exhibiting pictures, throwing dice, etc.
Sloth noun [ Middle English
slouthe ,
sleuthe , Anglo-Saxon
sl...w... , from
slāw slow. See
Slow .]
1. Slowness; tardiness. These cardinals trifle with me; I abhor
This dilatory sloth and tricks of Rome.
Shak. 2. Disinclination to action or labor; sluggishness; laziness; idleness. [ They] change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth .
Milton. Sloth , like rust, consumes faster than labor wears.
Franklin. 3. (Zoology) Any one of several species of arboreal edentates constituting the family Bradypodidæ , and the suborder Tardigrada. They have long exserted limbs and long prehensile claws. Both jaws are furnished with teeth (see Illust. of Edentata ), and the ears and tail are rudimentary. They inhabit South and Central America and Mexico. » The three-toed sloths belong to the genera
Bradypus and
Arctopithecus , of which several species have been described. They have three toes on each foot. The best-known species are collared sloth (
Bradypus tridactylus ), and the ai (
Arctopitheus ai ). The two-toed sloths, consisting the genus
Cholopus , have two toes on each fore foot and three on each hind foot. The best-known is the unau (
Cholopus didactylus ) of South America. See
Unau . Another species (
C. Hoffmanni ) inhabits Central America. Various large extinct terrestrial edentates, such as Megatherium and Mylodon, are often called
sloths .
Australian, or Native sloth (Zoology) ,
the koala. --
Sloth animalcule (Zoology) ,
a tardigrade. --
Sloth bear (Zoology) ,
a black or brown long-haired bear ( Melursus ursinus, or labiatus ), native of India and Ceylon; -- called also aswail , labiated bear , and jungle bear . It is easily tamed and can be taught many tricks. --
Sloth monkey (Zoology) ,
a loris.
Sloth intransitive verb To be idle. [ Obsolete] Gower.
Slothful adjective Addicted to sloth; inactive; sluggish; lazy; indolent; idle. He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
Prov. xviii. 9. --
Sloth"ful*ly ,
adverb --
Sloth"ful*ness ,
noun
Slotted adjective Having a slot.
Slotting noun The act or process of making slots, or mortises.
Slouch noun [ Confer Icelandic sl...kr a slouching felloew, and English slack , slug , a lazy fellow.]
1. A hanging down of the head; a drooping attitude; a limp appearance; an ungainly, clownish gait; a sidewise depression or hanging down, as of a hat brim. 2. An awkward, heavy, clownish fellow. [ Colloq.]
Slouth hat , a soft, limp hat of unstiffened cloth or felt.
Slouch intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Slouched ;
present participle & verbal noun Slouching .]
1. To droop, as the head. 2. To walk in a clumsy, lazy manner. [ Colloq.]
Slouch transitive verb To cause to hang down; to depress at the side; as, to slouth the hat.
Slouching adjective Hanging down at the side; limp; drooping; without firmness or shapeliness; moving in an ungainly manner.
Slouchy adjective Slouching. [ Colloq.]
Slough adjective Slow. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.
Slough noun [ Middle English
slogh ,
slough , Anglo-Saxon
slōh a hollow place; confer Middle High German
slūch an abyss, gullet, German
schlucken to swallow; also Gael. & Ir.
sloc a pit, pool. ditch, Ir.
slug to swallow. Greek ............... to hiccough, to sob.]
1. A place of deep mud or mire; a hole full of mire. Chaucer. He's here stuck in a slough .
Milton. 2. [
Pronounced slō.]
A wet place; a swale; a side channel or inlet from a river. [ In this sense local or provincial; also spelt
sloo , and
slue .]
Slough grass (Botany) ,
a name in the Mississippi valley for grasses of the genus Muhlenbergia ; -- called also drop seed , and nimble Will .
Slough obsolete
imperfect of Slee , to slay. Slew. Chaucer.
Slough noun [ Middle English slugh , slouh ; confer Middle High German sl...ch the skin of a serpent, German schlauch a skin, a leather bag or bottle.]
1. The skin, commonly the cast-off skin, of a serpent or of some similar animal. 2. (Medicine) The dead mass separating from a foul sore; the dead part which separates from the living tissue in mortification.
Slough intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Sloughed ;
present participle & verbal noun Sloughing .]
(Medicine) To form a slough; to separate in the form of dead matter from the living tissues; -- often used with off , or away ; as, a sloughing ulcer; the dead tissues slough off slowly.
Slough transitive verb To cast off; to discard as refuse. New tint the plumage of the birds,
And slough decay from grazing herds.
Emerson.
Sloughing noun (Zoology) The act of casting off the skin or shell, as do insects and crustaceans; ecdysis.
Sloughy adjective Full of sloughs, miry.
Sloughy adjective Resembling, or of the nature of, a slough, or the dead matter which separates from living flesh.
Sloven noun [ Dutch
slaf careless, negligent, a sloven; akin to LG.
sluf slovenly.]
A man or boy habitually negligent of neathess and order; -- the correlative term to slattern , or slut . Pope. He became a confirmed sloven .
Macaulay.
Slovenliness noun The quality or state of being slovenly.
Slovenly adjective 1. Having the habits of a sloven; negligent of neatness and order, especially in dress. A slovenly , lazy fellow, lolling at his ease.
L'Estrange. 2. Characteristic of a sloven; lacking neatness and order; evincing negligence; as, slovenly dress.
Slovenly adverb a slovenly manner.
Slovenness noun Slovenliness. [ Obsolete] Fuller.
Slovenry noun Slovenliness. [ Obsolete] Shak.
Slow (slō), obsolete
imperfect of
Slee , to slay.
Slew. Chaucer.
Slow (slō)
adjective [
Compar. Slower ;
superl. Slowest .] [ Middle English
slow ,
slaw , Anglo-Saxon
slāw ; akin to Old Saxon
slēu blunt, dull, Dutch
sleeuw ,
slee , sour, Old High German
slēo blunt, dull, Icelandic
slōr ,
slær , Danish
slöv , Swedish
slö . Confer
Sloe , and
Sloth .]
1. Moving a short space in a relatively long time; not swift; not quick in motion; not rapid; moderate; deliberate; as, a slow stream; a slow motion. 2. Not happening in a short time; gradual; late. These changes in the heavens, though slow , produced
Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.
Milton. 3. Not ready; not prompt or quick; dilatory; sluggish; as, slow of speech, and slow of tongue. Fixed on defense, the Trojans are not slow
To guard their shore from an expected foe.
Dryden. 4. Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation; tardy; inactive. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.
Prov. xiv. 29. 5. Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time; as, the clock or watch is slow . 6. Not advancing or improving rapidly; as, the slow growth of arts and sciences. 7. Heavy in wit; not alert, prompt, or spirited; wearisome; dull. [ Colloq.]
Dickens. Thackeray. »
Slow is often used in the formation of compounds for the most part self-explaining; as,
slow -gaited,
slow - paced,
slow -sighted,
slow -winged, and the like.
Slow coach ,
a slow person. See def.7, above. [ Colloq.] --
Slow lemur ,
or Slow loris (Zoology) ,
an East Indian nocturnal lemurine animal ( Nycticebus tardigradus ) about the size of a small cat; -- so called from its slow and deliberate movements. It has very large round eyes and is without a tail. Called also bashful Billy . --
Slow match .
See under Match . Syn. -- Dilatory; late; lingering; tardy; sluggish; dull; inactive. --
Slow ,
Tardy ,
Dilatory .
Slow is the wider term, denoting either a want of rapid motion or inertness of intellect.
Dilatory signifies a proneness to
defer , a habit of delaying the performance of what we know must be done.
Tardy denotes the habit of being behind hand; as,
tardy in making up one's acounts.
Slow adverb Slowly. Let him have time to mark how slow time goes
In time of sorrow.
Shak.
Slow transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Slowed ;
present participle & verbal noun Slowing .]
To render slow; to slacken the speed of; to retard; to delay; as, to slow a steamer. Shak.
Slow intransitive verb To go slower; -- often with up ; as, the train slowed up before crossing the bridge.
Slow noun A moth. [ Obsolete] Rom. of R.
Slow-witted adjective Dull of apprehension; not possessing quick intelligence.
Slowback noun A lubber; an idle fellow; a loiterer. [ Old Slang] Dr. Favour.
Slowh obsolete
imperfect of Slee ,to slay. Chaucer.
Slowhound noun A sleuthhound. [ R.]
Slowly adverb In a slow manner; moderately; not rapidly; not early; not rashly; not readly; tardly.
Slowness noun The quality or state of being slow.
Slows noun (Medicine) Milk sickness.
Slowworm noun [ Anglo-Saxon
slāwyrm ; the first part is probably akin to
sleán to strike, the reptile being supposed to be very poisonous. See
Slay ,
transitive verb , and
Worm .]
(Zoology) A lecertilian reptile; the blindworm.
Sloyd noun [ Written also slojd , and sloid .] [ Swedish slöjd skill, dexterity, esp. skilled labor, hence, manufacture, wood carving.] Lit., skilled mechanical work, such as that required in wood carving; trade work; hence, a system (usually called the sloyd system ) of manual training in the practical use of the tools and materials used in the trades, and of instruction in the making and use of the plans and specifications connected with trade work. The sloyd system derives its name from the fact that it was adopted or largely developed from a similar Swedish system, in which wood carving was a chief feature. Its purpose is not only to afford practical skill in some trade, but also to develop the pupils mentally and physically.
Slub noun [ Etymol. uncertain.] A roll of wool slightly twisted; a rove; -- called also slubbing .
Slub transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Slubbed ;
present participle & verbal noun Slubbing .]
To draw out and twist slightly; -- said of slivers of wool.
Slubber transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Slubbered ;
present participle & verbal noun Slubbering .] [ Confer Danish
slubbre to swallow, to sup up, Dutch
slobberen to lap, to slabber. Confer
Slabber .]
1. To do lazily, imperfectly, or coarsely. Slubber not business for my sake.
Shak. 2. To daub; to stain; to cover carelessly. There is no art that hath more . . . slubbered with aphorisming pedantry than the art of policy.
Milton.
Slubber noun A slubbing machine.
Slubberdegullion noun [ Slubber + Prov. English gullion a wretch.] A mean, dirty wretch. [ Low]
Slubberingly adverb In a slovenly, or hurried and imperfect, manner. [ Low] Drayton.
Slubbing adjective & noun from Slub . Slubbing billy ,
or Slubbing machine ,
the machine by which slubs are formed.