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slur

Pronunciation: /sləː/

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Definition of slur

verb (slurs, slurring, slurred)

[with object]
  • 1speak (words) indistinctly so that the sounds run into one another:he was slurring his words like a drunk
  • [no object] (of words or speech) be slurred:his speech was beginning to slur
  • pass over (a fact or aspect) so as to conceal or minimize it:essential attributes are being slurred over or ignored
  • 2 Music perform (a group of two or more notes) legato: (as adjective slurred)a group of slurred notes
  • mark (notes) with a slur.
  • 3chiefly US make damaging or insulting insinuations or allegations about:try and slur the integrity of the police to secure an acquittal

noun

  • 1an insinuation or allegation about someone that is likely to insult them or damage their reputation:the comments were a slur on staff at the hospital
  • 2an act of speaking indistinctly so that sounds or words run into one another or a tendency to speak in such a way:there was a trace of a slur in his voice
  • 3 Music a curved line used to show that a group of two or more notes are to be sung to one syllable or played or sung legato.

Origin:

Middle English: originally as noun in sense 'thin, fluid mud', later as verb meaning 'smear, smirch', 'disparage (a person)', 'gloss over (a fault)'

slur in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of slur in the US English dictionary

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