Slough (?), a. Slow. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Slough (?), 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. &?;&?;&?;&?;&?; 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.

2. [Pronounced sl&oomac;.] 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, obs. imp. of Slee, to slay. Slew. Chaucer.

Slough (?), n. [OE. slugh, slouh; cf. MHG. sl&?;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.

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

Slough, 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.

Slough, v. t. To cast off; to discard as refuse.

New tint the plumage of the birds,
And slough decay from grazing herds.

Slough (?), a. Slow. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Slough (?), 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. &?;&?;&?;&?;&?; 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.

2. [Pronounced sl&oomac;.] 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, obs. imp. of Slee, to slay. Slew. Chaucer.

Slough (?), n. [OE. slugh, slouh; cf. MHG. sl&?;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.

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

Slough, 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.

Slough, v. t. To cast off; to discard as refuse.

New tint the plumage of the birds,
And slough decay from grazing herds.

• (UK) A muddy or marshy area.
       I lost a boot in the slough.
  
• (Eastern U.S.) A type of swamp or shallow lake system, typically formed as or by the backwater of a larger waterway, similar to a bayou with trees.
       We paddled under a canopy of trees through the slough.
  
• (Western U.S.) A secondary channel of a river delta, usually flushed by the tide.
       The Sacramento River Delta contains dozens of sloughs that are often used for water-skiing and fishing.
  
• A state of depression.
       John is in a slough.
  
• The skin shed by a snake or other reptile.
       Here is the slough of a rattler; we must be careful.
  
• Dead skin on a sore or ulcer.
       This is the slough that came off of his skin after the burn.
  
• (transitive): To shed (skin).
       A week after he was burned, a layer of skin on his arm sloughed off.
  
• (intransitive): To be shed (of skin).
       This skin is being sloughed.
  

• A town in west London, close to Heathrow Airport