slough

Meaning

Noun

1. The skin shed by a snake or other reptile.
2. Dead skin on a sore or ulcer.

Verb

1. To shed skin or outer layers.
2. To slide off or flake off, as an outer layer, such as skin, might do.
3. To discard.
4. (slang) To commit truancy, be absent from school without permission.

Synonyms

mire

shed

molt

moult

exuviate

bog

marsh

swamp

morass

quagmire

cast off skin

fen

mud

gangrene

sphacelus

scab

crust

swampland

discard

slew

shell

🐚

eschar

husk

rejuvenate

rind

scale

shuck

skin

stall

swale

cast its skin

slough off

valley

mudhole

Moor

testa

cast-off skin

scale of fish

dead skin

snake’s skin

rot away

abandon

abscission

alluvion

apparel

bayou

canyon

coat

🧥

dry up

exuviae

fell

give up

hull

imprison

lock up

metamorphosis

mortification

necrosis

off

pool

pull-out

quag

ravine

Pronounced as (IPA)

/slʌf/

Etymology

From Middle English slogh, slugh, slouh, from Proto-Germanic *sluk-, perhaps related to *sleupaną (“to slip, sneak”) (compare Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍀𐌰𐌽 (sliupan)).
Akin to Middle Low German slô (“sheath, skin on a hoof”). Perhaps also related with Old Saxon slūk (“snakeskin”), Middle High German slūch, whence German Schlauch (“waterskin, hose”).