Sludge, sluj, n. soft mud or mire: half-melted snow.—adj. Sludg′y, miry: muddy. [A form of slush.]
Slue, Slew, slū, v.t. (naut.) to turn anything about its axis without removing it from its place: to turn or twist about.—v.i. to turn round:—pr.p. slū′ing; pa.p. slūed.—n. the turning of a body upon an axis within its figure.—adj. Slued, tipsy. [Scand., Ice. snua, to turn.]
Slug, slug, n. a heavy, lazy fellow: a name for land-molluscs of order Pulmonata, with shell rudimentary or absent—they do great damage to garden crops: any hinderance.—ns. Slug′-a-bed (Shak.), one who is fond of lying in bed, a sluggard; Slug′gard, one habitually idle or inactive.—v.t. Slug′gardise (Shak.), to make lazy.—adj. Slug′gish, habitually lazy: slothful: having little motion: having little or no power.—adv. Slug′gishly.—n. Slug′gishness. [Scand., Dan. slug, sluk, drooping, Norw. sloka, to slouch; Low Ger. slukkern, to be loose; allied to slack.]
Slug, slug, n. a cylindrical or oval piece of metal for firing from a gun: a piece of crude metal. [Prob. from slug above, or slug=slog, to hit hard.]
Slugga, slug′a, n. a deep cavity formed by the action of subterranean streams common in some limestone districts of Ireland. [Ir. slugaid, a slough.]
Slughorn, slug′horn, n. a word used to denote a kind of horn, but really a corruption of slogan.
Sluice, slōōs, n. a sliding gate in a frame for shutting off or regulating the flow of water: the stream which flows through it: that through which anything flows: a source of supply: in mining, a board trough for separating gold from placer-dirt carried through it by a current of water: the injection-valve in a steam-engine condenser.—v.t. to wet or drench copiously: to wash in or by a sluice: to flush or clean out with a strong flow of water.—adj. Sluic′y, falling in streams, as from a sluice. [O. Fr. escluse (Fr. écluse)—Low L. exclusa (aqua), a sluice (water) shut out, pa.p. of L. ex-cludĕre, to shut out.]
Slum, slum, n. a low street or neighbourhood.—v.i. to visit the slums of a city, esp. from motives of curiosity.—ns. Slum′mer, one who slums; Slum′ming, the practice of visiting slums.
Slumber, slum′bėr, v.i. to sleep lightly: to sleep: to be in a state of negligence or inactivity.—n. light sleep: repose.—ns. Slum′berer; Slum′bering.—adv. Slum′beringly, in a slumbering manner.—n. Slum′berland, the state of slumber.—adjs. Slum′berless, without slumber: sleepless; Slum′berous, Slum′brous, inviting or causing slumber; sleepy; Slum′bery, sleepy: drowsy. [With intrusive b from M. E. slumeren—A.S. sluma, slumber; cog. with Ger. schlummern.]
Slump, slump, v.i. to fall or sink suddenly into water or mud: to fail or fall through helplessly.—n. a boggy place: the act of sinking into slush, &c., also the sound so made: a sudden fall or failure.—adj. Slump′y, marshy. [Cf. Dan. slumpe, to stumble upon by chance; Ger. schlumpen, to trail.]