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An American Dictionary of the English Language

by Noah Webster

Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)

Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865

Entries
95,912
Pages
1,538
Illustrations
2,133

Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.

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  1. Slōv'en-ness, n.p. 1245Slovenliness. [Obs.] Is slovenness any advantage to sanctity? Fuller.
  2. Slōv'en-ry, n.p. 1245Negligence of order or neatness; dirtiness. [Obs.] Shak.
  3. Slōw, a.p. 1245Moving a small distance in a given time; not swift; not quick in motion; not rapid; moderate; deliberate; as, a slow stream; a slow motion. 2. Not happening in a short time; late. These changes in…
  4. Slōw, v. t.p. 1245To render slow; to retard; as, to slow a steamer.
  5. Slōw, n.p. 1245A moth. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  6. Slōw'băck, n.p. 1245A lubber; an idle fellow; a loi-terer. [Obs.]
  7. Slōw'-hound, n.p. 1245A sleuth-hound. W. Scott.
  8. Slōw'ly, adv.p. 1245In a slow manner; moderately; not rapidly; not early; not rashly; not readily; tardily.
  9. Slōw'ness, n.p. 1245The state or quality of being slow; moderate motion; want of speed or velocity; tardy advance; want of readiness or promptness; dullness; deliberation; dilatoriness; tardiness.
  10. Slōw's, n.p. 1245(Med.) Milk-sickness. See MILK-SICKNESS. Dunglison.
  11. Slōw'-worm, n.p. 1245(Zoöl.) A harmless reptile of the genus Anguis (A. fragilis), having a very brittle body; the blind-worm. Baird.
  12. Slŭb, n.p. 1245A roll of wool slightly twisted; — a term corresponding to rove and roving, in the manufacture of cotton; — called also slubbing.
  13. Slūb, v. t.p. 1245To draw out and slightly twist;— applied to wool.
  14. Slŭb'ber, v. t.p. 1245To do lazily, imperfectly, or coarsely. Slobber not business for my sake. Shak. 2. To daub; to stain; to cover carelessly. There is no art that hath been more . . . slobbered with spleenizing…
  15. Slŭb'ber-de-gŭll'ion, n.p. 1245A mean, dirty, sorry wretch. [Low.] Hudibras.
  16. Slăb'ber-ing-ly, adv.p. 1245In a slovenly, or a hurried and imperfect manner. [Vulgar.] Drayton.
  17. Slŭb'bing, n.p. 1245See SLUB.
  18. Slŭb’bing-bĭl’ly or Slŭb’bing-ma-chĭne, n.p. 1245The machine by which slubs are formed.
  19. Slŭdge, n.p. 1245Mud; mire; soft mud; slush. Mortimer. 2. Small floating pieces of ice or snow. Kane.
  20. Slŭdge'-hōle, n.p. 1245The mud-hole in boilers of steam-engines by means of which the sediment, &c., can be removed.
  21. Slŭdg'er, n.p. 1245An instrument for boring in sludge or quicksand.
  22. Slūdg'y, a.p. 1245Miry; slushy. Partington.
  23. Slūe, v. t.p. 1245(Naut.) To turn about a fixed point, usually the center, as a spar or piece of timber; to turn;—used also of any heavy body. 2. To turn about; to twist;—often followed by round. They laughed, and…
  24. Slūe, v. i.p. 1245To turn about; to turn from the course; to slip or slide and turn from an expected or desired course;—often followed by round.
  25. Slŭg, n.p. 1245A drone; a slow, heavy, lazy fellow. Shak. 2. A hindrance; obstruction. [Obs.] Bacon. 3. (Zoöl.) A kind of snail, of the genus Limax, very destructive to plants. ☞ Slugs are naked snails, or snails…
  26. Slŭg, n.p. 1245A cylindrical or oval piece of metal, used for the charge of a gun.
  27. Slŭg, v. i.p. 1245To move slowly; to lie idle. [Obs.] “To slug in sloth and sensual delight.” Spenser.
  28. Slŭg, v. t.p. 1245To make sluggish. [Obs.] Milton.
  29. Slŭg, v. t.p. 1245To load with a slug; as, to slug a gun.
  30. Slŭg'a-bĕd, n.p. 1245One who indulges in lying abed; a sluggard. [Obs.] Shak.
  31. Slŭg'gard, n.p. 1245A person habitually lazy, idle, and inactive; a drone. Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Prov. vi. 6.
  32. Slŭg'gard, a.p. 1245Sluggish; lazy. Dryden.
  33. Slūg'gard-ize, v. t.p. 1245To make lazy. [Obs.] Shak.
  34. Slŭg'gard-y, n.p. 1245The state of being a sluggard; sluggishness. [Obs.] Trower.
  35. Slŭg'gish, a.p. 1245Habitually idle and lazy; slothful; dull; inactive; as, a sluggish man. 2. Slow; having little motion; as, a sluggish river or stream. 3. Having no power to move one's self or itself; inert…
  36. Slŭg'gish-ly, adv.p. 1245In a sluggish manner; lazily; slothfully; drowsily; idly; slowly. Milton.
  37. Slŭg'gish-ness, n.p. 1245The state of being sluggish; natural or habitual indolence or laziness; sloth; dullness;— applied to persons. 2. Inertness; want of power to move;—used with reference to inanimate matter. 3.…
  38. Slŭg'gy, a.p. 1245Sluggish. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  39. Slūgs, n. pl.p. 1245(Mining.) Half-roasted ore.
  40. Sluice, n.p. 1245An artificial passage for water fitted with a sliding valve or gate, as in a mill-stream, for stopping or regulating the flow. 2. Hence, any opening; that from which any thing flows; a source of…
  41. Slūice, v. t.p. 1245To emit by floodgates. [Rare.] Milton. 2. To wet copiously, as by opening a sluice; to overwhelm; as, to sluice meadows. Howitt. He dried his neck and face, which he had been sluicing with cold…
  42. Slūice'-gāte, n.p. 1245Same as SLUICE.
  43. Slūi'cy, a.p. 1245Falling in streams, as from a sluice. And oft whole sheets descend of sluicy rain. Dryden.
  44. Slŭm, n.p. 1245A back street of a city, especially one filled with a poor, dirty, and vicious population; any low neighborhood or dark retreat; as, Westminster slums, which are favorite haunts for thieves.…
  45. Slūm'ber, v. i.p. 1245To sleep lightly; to dose. He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Ps. cxxi. 4. 2. To sleep. Slumber is used as synonymous with sleep, particularly in the poetic and eloquent style.…
  46. Slūm'ber, v. t.p. 1245To lay to sleep. 2. To stun; to stupefy. [Rare.] Wotton.
  47. Slūm'ber, n.p. 1245Light sleep; sleep that is not deep or sound; repose. “Rest to my soul, and slumber to my eyes.” Dryden. He at last fell into a slumber, and thence into a fast sleep, which detained him in that place…
  48. Slŭm'ber-er, n.p. 1245One who slumbers; a sleeper.
  49. Slŭm'ber-ing-ly, adv.p. 1245In a slumbering manner.
  50. Slŭm'ber-less, a.p. 1245Without slumber; sleepless.
  51. Slŭm'ber-oŭs, a.p. 1245Inviting slumber; soporiferous. “Pensive in the slumberous shade.” Pope.
  52. Slŭm'ber-y, a.p. 1245Sleepy; drowsy. [Obs.] “Slumbery agitation.” Shak.
  53. Slŭmp, v. i.p. 1245To fall or sink suddenly through or in, when walking on a hard surface, as on snow, ice, frozen ground, a bog, &c., not strong enough to bear the person. The latter walk on a bottomless quag, into…
  54. Slŭmp, v. t.p. 1245To lump; to throw into a mass. The different groups . . . are exclusively slumped together under that sense. Sir W. Hamilton.
  55. Slŭmp, n.p. 1245A boggy place. [Prov. Eng.] 2. The noise made by any thing falling into a hole, or into a soft, miry place. [Scot.]
  56. Slŭmp'y, a.p. 1245Easily broken through; boggy; marshy; swampy. [Prov. Eng.] Bartlett.
  57. Slŭng, imp. & p. p.p. 1245of slĭng. See SLING.
  58. Slŭng'-shŏt, n.p. 1245A metal ball of small size, with a string attached, used for striking.
  59. Slŭnk, imp. & p. p.p. 1245of slink. See SLINK.
  60. Slur, v. t.p. 1245To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace. 2. To pass lightly; to conceal. With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes. Dryden. 3. To cheat; to trick. [Rare.] “To slur men of what they…