slough

obs. imp. of Slee, to slay. Slew. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. slogh, slough, AS. slōh a hollow place; cf. MHG. slūch an abyss, gullet, G. schlucken to swallow; also Gael. & Ir. sloc a pit, pool. ditch, Ir. slug to swallow. Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; to hiccough, to sob. ] 1. A place of deep mud or mire; a hole full of mire. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

He's here stuck in a slough. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. def>A wet place; a swale; a side channel or inlet from a river. [ In this sense local or provincial; also spelt sloo, and slue. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Slough grass (Bot.), a name in the Mississippi valley for grasses of the genus Muhlenbergia; -- called also drop seed, and nimble Will. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. slugh, slouh; cf. MHG. sl&unr_;ch the skin of a serpent, G. schlauch a skin, a leather bag or bottle. ] 1. The skin, commonly the cast-off skin, of a serpent or of some similar animal. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) The dead mass separating from a foul sore; the dead part which separates from the living tissue in mortification. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Sloughed p. pr. & vb. n. Sloughing. ] (Med.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cast off; to discard as refuse. [ 1913 Webster ]

New tint the plumage of the birds,
And slough decay from grazing herds. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The act of casting off the skin or shell, as do insects and crustaceans; ecdysis. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of sloughs, miry. [ 1913 Webster ]