slough¹ / slou; sloō/ • n. a swamp. ∎ fig. a situation characterized by lack of progress or activity: the economic slough of the interwar years. ∎  a muddy side channel or inlet.DERIVATIVES: slough·y adj.slough² / sləf/ • v. [tr.] (of an animal, esp. a snake, or a person) cast off or shed (an old skin or dead skin): a snake sloughs off its old skin | fig. he is concerned to slough off the country's bad environmental image. ∎  [intr.] (slough off) (of dead skin) drop off; be shed. ∎  [intr.] (slough away/down) (of soil or rock) collapse or slide into a hole or depression.• n. the dropping off of dead tissue from living flesh: the drugs can cause blistering and slough.DERIVATIVES: slough·y adj.

slough2 outer skin shed by a reptile. XIII. ME. sloh, sloʒ, poss. rel. to LG. sluwe, slu husk, peel, shell.
Hence vb. be shed as skin XVIII; cast off XIX.

slough (sluf) n. dead tissue, such as skin, that separates from healthy tissue after inflammation or infection.

slough1 soft muddy piece of ground. OE. slōh, slō(g), of unkn. orig.