slubber 
slubber a (slub'er), . [< slulfi + -e>-i.] 1. One 
who glubs or who manages a slubbing-machine. 
2. A slubbing-machine. 
slubberdegullion (slub " er - d - gul ' yon), . 
[Also slabberclegullion ; < slubber 1 or slabber 1 + 
-de-, insignificant or as in hobbledehoy, + gi/llion, 
var. of cullion, a base fellow. Cf. slitbberer, a 
mischievous, meddling person ; Dan. slubbert, a 
scamp.] A contemptible creature ; a base, foul 
wretch. [Low.] 
Who so is sped is matcht with a woman, 
He may weep without the help of an onyon, 
He 's an oxe and an asse, and a stubberdegullion. 
Musarum Delicia (1656), p. 79. (HaUimll.) 
Quoth she, "Although thou hast deserv'd, 
Base Slubberdegullion, to be serv'd 
As thou didst vow to deal with me, 
If thou hadst got the victory." 
S. Butter, Hudibras, I. iii. 886. 
slubberer (slub'er-er), n. [< slubber 1 + -er 1 .] 
A mischievous, meddling person ; a turbulent 
man. Hollyband, Diet., 1593. (Hallitcell.) 
slubberingly (slub'er-ing-li), adv. In a slovenly 
or hurried and careless manner. [Bare.] 
And sliii:in'fi,: ; :l,i\n(c\\ up smile slight and shallow rhime. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, xxi. 
Slabbing (slub'ing), . [Verbal n. of sluV*, '.] 
Same as slub 2 . 
Slubbinys intended for warp-yarn must be more twisted 
than those for weft. Ure, Diet., HI. 1167. 
slubbing-billy (slub'ing -bil"i), n. An early 
form of the slubbiiig-machine. 
Slubbing-machine (slub'ing-ma-shen*'), n. In 
wool-spinning, a machine used for imparting a 
slight twist to rovings, to give them the needed 
strength for working them in the subsequent 
operations of drawing and spinning. 
slucet, " An obsolete spelling of sluice. 
slnckabed (sluk'a-bed), n. A dialectal form of 
slugabed. 
slud (slud), n. [Cf. sludge.] Wet mud. Hatti- 
well. [Prov. Eng.] 
sludge (sluj), n. [A var. of slutch (as grudge of 
grutch), this being a var. of glitch, sleech : see 
slutch, sleech. Cf. slud and slush.] 1. Mud; 
mire. 
A draggled niawkin, thou, 
That tends her bristled grunters in the sludge. 
Tennyson, Princess, v. 
The same arrangement [for separating liquid from solid 
matter] is in use for dealing with sewage sludge. 
Sci. Amer. Supp., p. 7111. 
2. A pasty mixture of snow or ice and water; 
half-melted snow; slush. 
The snow of yesterday has surrounded us with a pasty 
sludge; but the young ice continues to be our most for- 
midable opponent. Kane, Sec. Grinn. Exp., I. 82. 
3. In mining, the fine powder produced by the 
action of the drill or borer in a bore-hole, when 
mixed with water, as is usually the case in large 
and deep bore-holes. The powder when dry is 
often called bore-meal. 4. Refuse from vari- 
ous operations, as from the washing of coal; 
also, refuse acid and alkali solutions from the 
agitators, in the refining of crude petroleum: 
sometimes used, but incorrectly, as the equiv- 
alent of slimes, or the very finely comminuted 
material coming from the stamps. See slime, 3. 
Sludge acid, acid which has been used for the purifi- 
cation of petroleum. 
sludge-door (sluj'dor), n. An opening in a 
steam-boiler through which the deposited mat- 
ter can be removed. 
sludge-hole (sluj'hol), . Same as sludge-door. 
sludger (sluj'er), n. [< sludge + -er 1 .] A cylin- 
der, with a valve at the end, for removing the 
sludge from a bore-hole ; a sand-pump, shell, 
or shell-pump. 
Sludging (sluj'ing), re. [Verbal n. of "sludge, v., 
< sludge, .] In hydraul. engin., the operation 
of filling the cracks caused by the contraction 
of clay in embankments with mud sufficiently 
wet to run freely. E. H. Knight. 
sludgy (sluj'i), a. [< sludge + -3/1.] Consisting 
of sludge ; miry ; slushy. 
The warm, copious rain falling on the snow was at first 
absorbed and held back, . . . until the whole mass of snow 
was saturated and became sludgy. The Century, XL. 499. 
Slue 1 (slo), v. ; pret. and pp. slued, ppr. sluing. 
[Also slew ; cf. E. dial, sluer, slewer, give way, 
fall down, slide down ; perhaps for *smie, < Icel. 
sum, bend, turn, = Dan. sno, twist, twine.] I. 
trans. 1. Naut., to turn round, as a mast or 
boom about its axis, without removing it from 
its place. 2. To turn or twist about: often 
followed by round and used reflexively. 
They laughed and slued themselves round. 
Dickens, Great Expectations, xxviii. 
5706 
sluggard 
Bang went gun number two, and, again, gun number slugs of the restricted family Lunacida. Water-loving 
three, as fast as they could load and slue the piece round, slugs, the Onchidiidas. 
W. H. Russell, Diary in India, II. 370. S lug3 (slug), v. i. ; pret. and pp. "lugged, ppr. slug- 
II. intratix. To turn about; turn or swing ging. [Also slog; prob. ult. a secondary form of 
round: often followed by round. slay, < AS. sledti (pret. sloli, pi. slogan), strike: 
Vessels . . . sluing on their heels. see slay 1 .'] To strike heavily. Compare slugger. 
W. C. Russell, Sailor's Sweetheart, ii. slug 3 (slug), n. [< slug 3 , i'.] A heavy or forci- 
slue 1 (slo), . [< glue 1 , i'.] The turning of a ble blow; a hard hit. 
body upon an axis within its figure : as, he gave slug 4 (slug), n. [Origin uncertain : (n) prob. 
his chair a slue to the left. lit. ' a heavy piece,' < slug 1 , a. ; otherwise (b) < 
slue 2 , w. A variant spelling (also slew, sloo) 
of slough 1 in its second pronunciation. 
slue 3 (slo), w. [Also stew; origin obscure.] A 
considerable quantity: as, if you want wood, 
there 's a slue of it on the pavement. [Slang.] 
slued (slod), . [Also slewed; prop. pp. of slue 1 , 
v.] Slightly drunk. [Cant.] 
He came into our place at night to take her home ; 
rather slued, but not much. Dickens. 
sluer (slo'er), n. [< slue 1 + -er 1 ."] The steerer 
in a whaleboat. Also slewer. 
slue-rope (slo'rop), . Naut., a rope applied 
for turning a spar or other object in a required 
direction. 
slug 1 (slug), v. [Also dial, "sluck (in slucka- 
bed, var. of slugabed) ; < ME. sluggen, "sloggen, a 
var. of "slukken, "slokken = LG. "slukken, in freq. 
shikkern, be loose, = Norw. sloka, go in a heavy, 
dragging way, = Sw. sloka, hang down, droop, 
= Dan. "sluice, "sluge (in comp. sluk-oret, with 
drooping ears) ; cf. Icel. slokr = Norw. slok, a 
slouching fellow. Cf. slock 1 , slouch. The forms 
are chiefly dialectal, and the senses are in- 
volved. Hence ?M<j 2 , sluggard, etc.] I. intrans. 
To be slow, dull, or inert; be lazy; lie abed: 
said of persons or of things. 
Sluyijyn, desidio, torpeo. Prompt. Pan., p. 460. 
He was not slugging all night in a cabin under his man- 
tell. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
H. trans. 1 . To make sluggish. 
It is still Episcopacie that before all our eyes worsens 
and sluggs the most learned and seeming religious of our 
Ministers. MUton, Reformation in Eng., t. 
2. To hinder; retard. 
They [inquiries into final cause?! are indeed but remoras 
and hinderances to stay and slug the ship for farther sail- 
ing. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 
slug 1 (slug), a. and n. [< ME. slugge; cf. LG. 
slukk, drooping, downcast: see slug 1 , v.] I.t 
a. Slow; sluggish. 
Lord, when we leave the world and come to thee. 
How dull, how slug are we ! 
Quarles, Emblems, L 13. 
II. 
slug 2 , a snail, from a fancied resemblance; or 
(e) < slug 3 , v., strike heavily.] 1. A rather 
heavy piece of crude metal, frequently rounded 
in form. 
" That is platinum, and it is worth about 8150." It was 
an insignificant looking slug, but its weight was impres- 
sive and commanded respect. 
Elect. Rn>. (Amer.), XVI. viii. 2. 
Specifically (a) A bullet not regularly formed and truly 
spherical, such as were frequently used with smooth-bore 
guns or old-fashioned rifles. These were sometimes ham- 
mered, sometimes chewed into an approximately spherical 
form. 
For all the words that came from gullets, 
If long, were slugs; It short ones, bullets. 
Cotton, Burlesque, Upon the Great Frost. 
I took four muskets, and loaded them with two slugs 
and five small bullets each. Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, xvi. 
Hence (6) Any projectile of irregular shape, as one of the 
pieces constituting mitraille. (c) A thick blank of type- 
metal made to separate lines of print and to show a line 
of white space ; also, such a piece with a number or word, 
to be used temporarily as a direction or marking for any 
purpose, as in newspaper composing-rooms the distinctive 
number placed at the beginning of a compositor's " take," 
to mark it as his work. Thin blanks are known as leads. 
All blanks thicker than one sixteenth of an inch are known 
as slugs, and are called by the names of their proper type- 
bodies : as, nonpareil slugs; pic&tlugs. (d) In mi tat., 
a mass of partially roasted ore. (e) A lump of lead or 
other heavy metal carried in the hand by ruffians as a 
weapon of attack. It is sometimes attached to the wrist 
by a cord or thong : in that case it is called a slung-shot. 
[Vulgar.] (/) A hatters' heating iron. E. H. Knight. 
(g) A gold coin of the value of fifty dollars, privately is- 
sued in San Francisco during the mining excitement of 
1849. Round singe were very rare, the octagonal or hex- 
agonal form being usual. 
An interesting reminder ol early days in California, in 
the shape of a round fifty-dollar slug, . . . But fifty of 
these round fifty-dollar pieces were issued when orders 
came from the East prohibiting private coinage. 
San Francisco Bulletin, May 10, 1890. 
2. A stunted horn. 
Compare 
The late Sir B. T. Brandreth Gibbs, ... in the "Short 
Introductory Notes on Some of the Principal Breeds of 
Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs," . . . says: "Occasionally some 
have small Hugs or stumps, which are not affixed to the 
skull." Dr. Fleming, 1812, wrote similarly about the ex- 
istence of these "slugs" then, and is quoted by Boyd- 
Dawkins as evidence of the last appearances in this an- 
cient breed of a reminiscence of its former character. 
Amer. Nat., XXII. 794. 
1 . A slow, heavy, lazy fellow ; a slug- 
gard ; a slow-moving animal. [Obsolete or , . , , . ""'" A ' 
provincial.] slu ff* (slug), v.: pret. and pp. slugged, ppr. slvg- 
%.K..,..,^.,^^^^, M . n ^^. t ,_,. 00- [< -slug*, n.] I. trans. To load with a 
slug or slugs, as a gun. [Bare.] 
II. intrans. In gun., to assume the sectional 
shape of the bore when fired : said of a bullet 
slightly larger than the bore. 
slug 5 (slug), n. [Origin obscure.] In mining, 
a loop made in a rope for convenience in de- 
scending a shallow shaft, the miner putting 
his leg through the loop, by which he is sup- 
The flugge lokyth to be holpe of God that commawndyth 
men to waake in the worlde. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 32. 
Thou drone, thou snail, thou slug, thou sot ! 
Shak., C. of E., ii. 2. 19. 
Hence 2. Any slow-moving thing. 
Thus hath Independency, as a little but tite Pinnace, in 
a short time got the wind of and given a broad-side to 
Presbytery ; which soon grew a slug, when once the North- 
wind ceased to fill its sailes. 
Bp. Oauden, Tears of the Church, p. 381. 
ported while being lowered by the man at the 
windlass. 
His rendezvous for his fleete and for all sluggs to come to slugabed (slug'a-bed), n. TAlso dial sliieka- 
should be between Calais and Dover. %g". < s ^i V a 6ed] One who indulges in 
Pepys, Diary, Oct. 17, 1666. 
A dug must be kept going, and an impetuous one [horse] 
restrained. Encyc. Brit., XH. 199. 
3f. A hindrance ; an obstruction. 
Usury . . . doth dull and damp all industries, improve- 
ments, and new inventions, wherein money would bestir- 
lying abed ; a sluggard. 
Why, lamb ! why, lady ! fie, you glug-a-bed ! 
Shak., It. and J., iv. 6. 2. 
Get up, sweet slug-a-oed, and see 
The dew-bespangling herb and tree. 
Herrick, Corinna 's going a Maying. 
ring, if it were not for this slug. Bacon, Usury (ed. 1887). slug.caterpillar (slug'kat"er-pil-ar), n. One 
slug 2 (slug), n. [Prob. a particular use of slug 1 , 
.] 1. A terrestrial pulmonate gastropod of one 
of the families Limacidee and Arionidse and re- 
lated ones, which has only a rudimentary shell, 
if any. The species inhabit all the northern temperate 
of the footless slug-like larvte of the bombycid 
moths of the family Limacodidse. Some of the 
slug-caterpillars are also stinging-caterpillars. 
See stinging-caterpillar. Compare slug-worm. 
ru. s.] 
5^^t$M e asM al 35! 8U <?- fl y asy 1 ^ V aw f ywhose larvais 
rin nilSilmm.-hialv. M.trnnn,!,. or. ]lo,1 .,;,, S SlUg-WOmi. b66 SlUO*, )l., 2. 
rine nudibranchiate gastropods are called sea-slugs, 
sea-slug, and cut under Limacidse. 
See lg-'. ,.,_. 
sltigga (slug's), . [< IT. slugaid, a deep mire, 
Slugs, pinch'd with hunger, smear'd the slimy wall. a slough : see' slough 1 .] In Ireland, a swallow- 
ChurchUl, Prophecy of Famine, hole, or abrupt deep cavity formed in certain 
2. Some or any slug-like soft-bodied insect or limestone districts by the falling of parts of 
its larva; a grub: as, the yellow-spotted wil- the surface-rock into depressions which have 
low-slug, the larva of a saw-fly, Nematus ven- t* 6611 ma .de by subterranean rivers. The courses 
tralis. See pear-slug, rose-slug, slug-caterpillar, 
slug-worm. 3. The trepang or sea-cucumber; 
any edible holothurian ; a sea-slug Burrowing 
slugs, the Testacellida. Giant Slug, Ariolimax colum- 
bianus. It affords a thick tenacious slime, which is used 
by the Indians to lime humming-birds. [California to 
Alaska.] Oceanic slugs, the PhijUirhaidie. See cut un- 
these rivers may be sometimes traced by the sluggas. 
In some localities they are dotted irregularly over the 
country, as if the region were now or had been traversed 
by a network of subterranean watercourses. 
A slugga is usually shaped like an hour-glass, although 
some have perpendicular sides; they seem always to be 
formed from below. 
6. H. Kinahan, Geol. of Ireland, p. 325. 
Aer Phyllirhoe. Rough Slugs, slugs of the family Onchi- , , , , ,.'. ,\ ", 
diidie. -Teneriffe slug, a slug of the genus Phosphorax, Sluggard (slug ard), n. and a. [< iSE.'stug- 
which shines at night like the glow-worm, True slugs, 
d (ef.sliigf/tifdy); <tj0fl -I- -;</.] 
