slough2

 
Pronunciation: /slʌf/

verb

  • 1 [with object] (usually slough something off) shed or remove (a layer of dead skin): a snake sloughs off its old skin exfoliate once a week to slough off any dry skin
  • get rid of (something undesirable or no longer required): he is concerned to slough off the country’s bad environmental image
  • [no object] (slough off) (of dead skin) drop off; be shed: it is a rare skin disease in which the skin sloughs off
  • 2 [no object] (slough away/down) (of soil or rock) collapse or slide into a hole or depression: an eternal rain of silt sloughs down from the edges of the continents

noun

[mass noun]
  • the dropping off of dead tissue from living flesh: the drugs can cause blistering and slough

Derivatives

sloughy

adjective

Origin:

Middle English (as a noun denoting a skin, especially the outer skin shed by a snake): perhaps related to Low German slu(we) 'husk, peel'. The verb dates from the early 18th century