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.

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”).