slumber 
2. To sleep ; sleep quietly. 
God has granted you this sight of your country's happi- 
ness ere you slumber in the grave forever. 
D. Webster, Speech, June 17, 1825. 
5708 
slur 
Thanne wezeth he slough and slombery. s l upt (glup), r. t. [Appar. a var. of slipl (AS. 
Chaucer, Parson s Tale. ,, f } o of ,, j -f T O swallow hastily or care- 
In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other ' 
actual performances, what, at any time, have you heard 
her say ? Shale., Macbeth, v. 1. 12. 
At my feet the city slumbered. 
Lonff/elloie, Belfry of Bruges, slumbrous (slum'brus), rt. Same as x/iuiiberous. 
If Sleep and Death be truly one, 
Ofl'al 
, 
And every spirit's folded bloom 
Thro' all its intervital gloom 
In some long trance should slumber on. 
Tennyson, In Memoriani, xliii. 
3. To be in a state of negligence, sloth, su- 
pinenesg, or inactivity. 
Why slumbers Pope, who lends the tuneful train, 
Nor hears that virtue which he loves complain ? 
Young, Love of Fame, i. 85. 
Slumbering under a kind of half reformation. 
Jefferson, Correspondence, II. 446. 
Pent Greek patriotism slumbered for centuries till it 
blazed out grandly in the Liberation War of 1821-5. 
J. S. Bloc/fie. 
= 8yn. 1 and 2. Drowse, Done, etc. See sleep. 
II. trans. 1. To lay to sleep ; cause to slum- 
ber or sleep. [Bare.] 
To honest a deed after it was done, or to slumber his 
conscience in the doing, lie [Felton] studied other incen- 
tive. Sir H. Wotton, Life of the Duke of Buckingham. 
2f. To stun ; stupefy. [Rare.] 
Now bene they come whereas the Palmer sate, 
Keeping that slombred corse to him assind. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. vili. 11. 
3. To cause to be latent ; keep as if in a sleep- 
ing condition. [Bare.] 
If Christ slumbered the Godhead in himself, the mercy 
of God may be slumbered, it may be hidden from his ser- 
vants, but it cannot be taken away. Donne, Sermons, ii. 
slumber (slum'ber), n. [= D. simmer = MG. 
shimmer, G. sehlummer = Sw. Dan. slummer; 
from the verb.] 1. Light sleep; sleep not 
deep or sound. 
From carelessness it shall fall into slumber, and from a 
slumber it shall settle into a deep and long sleep. South. 
To all, to each, a fair good-night, 
And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light! 
Scott, Marmion, L'Euvoy. 
2. Sleep, especially sound sleep. 
Even lust and envy sleep ; yet love denies 
Rest to my soul, and slumber to my eyes. 
Dryden, Indian Emperor, iii. 2. 
Calm as cradled child in dreamless slumber bound. 
Shelley, Revolt of Islam, i. 15. 
3. A sleeping state ; sleep regarded as an act. 
The mockery of unquiet slumbers. 
Shak., Rich. III., iii. 2. 27. 
slumberer (slum'ber-er), . [< slumber + -er 1 .] 
One who slumbers; a sleeper. 
Slumbering (slum'ber-ing), n. [< ME. tslomer- 
yng; verbal n. of slumber, D.] The state of sleep 
or repose ; the condition of one who sleeps or 
slumbers. 
Off aunters ben olde of aunsetris nobill, 
And slydyn vppon shlepe (read sclepr] by slomeryng of Age. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. a. 
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep 
falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed. 
Job xxxiii. 15. 
aiuiuuiuuB v ftiu uK},u. ouiijt as sutttwt 
slumgullion (slum-gul'yon), . [Appar. < j 
+ -gullion as in slubberde'gullion, etc. ] 1 . 
Lewd precisians, 
Who, scorning Church-rites, take the symbol up 
As slovenly as careless courtiers slup 
Their mutton gruel ! 
Martian, Scourge of Villanie, ii. 95. 
or refuse of fish of any kind; also, the watery slur 1 (sler), v. ; pret. and pp. slurred, ppr. slur- 
refuse, mixed with blood and oil, which drains ri "ff- C< ME - "nlooren, "sloren (see the noun), 
fromblubber. [New Eng.] 2. Acheapdrink. a Ppar- < MD. slooreit, sleuren, drag, trail, do 
[Slang.] 3. A servant; one who represents negligently or carelessly, = LG. slureu, hang 
another. [Slang, U. S.] 
One 
[Be- 
Should in the Legislature as your slumgullion stand. 
Leland, Hans Breitmann Ballads. 
slummer (slum'er), . [< slum* + -!.] 
who slums. See slum*, v., and sluinmiinj. 
cent.] 
Nothing makes a slummer so happy as to discover a case 
that is at once both deserving and interesting. 
Philadelphia Times. 
slumming (slum'ing), . [Verbal n. of slum*, 
*.] The practice of visiting slums, often for 
mere curiosity or as an amusement. [Recent.] 
Slumming, which began with the publication of "The 
Cry of Outcast London," has attained the proportions of a 
regular rage. Philadelphia Times. 
But her story is decidedly pleasant and healthful, and it 
is a relief to Hud there is something besides slumming to 
be done by unselfish people. Atlieiueum, No. 3247, p. 81. 
slump 1 (slump), v. i. [Cf. Dan. slumpe, stum- 
ble upon by chance, G. schlumpen, trail, draggle, 
= Dan. Sw. slump, chance, hap; cf. G. schlump, 
haste, hap ; perhaps in part confused with forms 
cognate with slip* (AS. slupan, eta.) or plump*. 
Cf. slump*.'] 1. To fall or sink suddenly when 
walking on a surface, as on ice or frozen ground, 
not strong enough to support one ; walk with 
sinking feet ; sink, as in snow or mud. [Obso- 
lete or local.] 
The latter walk on a bottomless quag, into which una- 
wares they may slump. Barrow. 
Here [in the snow] is the dainty footprint of a cat ; here 
a dog has looked in on you like an amateur watchman to 
see if all is right, slumping clumsily about in the mealy 
treachery. Lowell,. Study Windows, p. 4-2. 
loosely, be lazy, sliireii, sloren, trail, draggle, 
= Icel. flora, trail, = Sw. dial, slora, be care- 
less or negligent, slur over, = Norw. slore, be 
negligent, sully ; perhaps a contracted form of 
the freq. verb, MD. slodderen = LG. sludderen, 
hang loosely, be lazy, = Icel. slodlim, drag or 
trail oneself along : see slodder, and cf . slotter 
and slut. Cf. also slur*, .] I. trans. 1. To 
smear ; soil by smearing with something ; sully ; 
contaminate; pollute; tarnish: often with on'i: 
Her cheekes not yet slurd over with the paint 
Of borrowed crimsone. 
Marxian, Antonio and Mellida, II., iii. 2. 
2. To disparage by insinuation or innuendo ; 
depreciate; calumniate; traduce; asperse; 
speak slightingly of. 
They impudently slur the gospel. 
Cudu'orth, Sermons, p. 73. (Latham.) 
Men .-/(/; him, saying all his force 
Is melted into mere effeminacy. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
3. To pass lightly (over or through); treat 
lightly or slightingly; make little of: com- 
monly with over. 
Studious to please the genius of the times, 
With periods, points, and tropes he slurs his crimes. 
Dryden, tr. of Persius's Satires, i. 171. 
He [David Deans] was by no means pleased with the 
quiet and indifferent manner in which King William's 
government slurred over the errors of the times. 
Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xviii. 
So they only slurred through their fagging just well 
enough to escape a licking, and not always that, and got 
the character of sulky, unwilling fags. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 9. 
2. Hence, to fail or fall through ignominionsly : 4f. To cheat, originally by slipping or sliding 
often with through: as, iherjlau slumped through. " Ji " : ~ ~ " ' - *--- 
[Colloq.] 
slump 1 (slump), . [< slump 1 , c. But the noun 
in sense 1 may be partly of independent origin ; 
cf. glum 1 .'] 1. A boggy place; soft, swampy 
ground; a marsh; a swamp. [Scotch and prov. 
Eng.] 2. The noise made by anything falling 
into a hole or slump. [Scotch.] 3. The act 
of slumping through weak ice or any frozen 
surface, or into melting snow or slush. 4. 
Hence, an ignominious coming to naught; com- 
plete failure ; also, a sudden fall, as of prices : 
as, a slump in stock from 150 to 90. [Colloq.] 
What a slump! what a slump! That blessed short- 
legged little seraph has spoilt the best sport that ever 
was. Hou-ells, Annie Kilburn, xxv. 
a die in a particular way: an old gambling 
term ; hence, to trick or cheat in general. 
What was the Public Faith found out for, 
But to slur men of what they fought for? 
S. Butler, Hudibras, II. ii. 192. 
5. To do (anything) in a careless manner; ren- 
der obscure or indistinct by running together, 
as words in speaking. 6. In music, to sing 
(two or more tones) to a single syllable, or per- 
form in a legato manner. See slur 1 , n., 4. 
7. Ill printing, to blur or double, as an impres- 
sion from type ; mackle. 
II. intraiis. 1. To slide ; be moved or dragged 
along in a shuffling, negligent way. 
Her soft, heavy footsteps slurred on the stairway as 
though her strength were failing. 
The Century, XXXVIII. 2EO. 
Takes his strange rest at heart of slmnberland. 
Simnburne, Tristram of Lyonesse, vi. 
slumberless (slum'ber-les), a. [< slumber + 
-less.] Without slumber ; sleepless. 
And the future is dark, and the present is spread 
Like a pillow of thorns for thy slumberless head ! 
Shelley, Prometheus Unbound, i. 
slumberous (slum'ber-us), a. [Also slumbrous; 
< slumber + -ous.'] 1. Inviting or causing 
sleep; soporific. 
While pensive in the silent slumb'rous shade, 
Sleep's gentle pow'rs her drooping eyes invade. 
Fenton, in Pope's Odyssey, iv. 1045. 
2. Like slumber; suggesting slumber. 
2f. To practise cheating by slipping a die out 
of the box so as not to let it turn; hence, to 
cheat iii any way. 
Thirdly, by slurring that is, by taking up your dice as 
you will have them advantageously lie in your hand, pla- 
cing the one atop the other, not caring if the uppermost 
run a millstone (as they use to say), if the undermost run 
without turning. 
Compleat Gamester (1680), p. 11. (Nares.) 
3. In music, to apply a slur to two or more notes. 
are exclusively slumped toge- slur 1 (sler), n. [< slur 1 , v. In the sense of 
Sir W. Hamilton. ' S p O t, stain,' the noun may be a particular use 
Slumping the temptations which were easy to avoid of slur* n.~\ 1. A mark or stain; a smear; 
with those which were comparatively irresistible. 
W. Mathews, Getting on in the World, p. 20. 
Slump-work (slump'werk), n. Work in the 
slump or lump. [Bare.] 
a block ; lump : as, to buy or take things in 
the slump ; also used attributively : as, a slump 
sum. [Colloq.] 
Slump 2 (slump), r. t. [< slump*, .] To throw or 
bring into a mass; regard as a mass or as a 
whole; lump. [Colloq.] 
The different groups , 
ther under that sense. 
The quiet August noon has come ; 
A slum 
3. Nearly asleep ; dozing ; sleepy. 
And wakes, and finds his slumberous eyes 
Wet with most delicious tears. 
Creation was not a sort of slump-work, to be perfected 
by the operation of a law of development. 
- .. a Dawson, Origin of World, p. 189. 
mberous silence fills the sky. , 
Bryan*, Summer Ramble, slumpy (slum'pi), . [<glumpl + -i/ 1 .] Marshy; 
swampy; boggy; easily broken through. [Prov. 
Eng. and Scotch.] 
slung (slung). Preterit and past participle of 
slingl. 
This quiet corner of a sleepy town in a slumberous land, slung-shot (slung'shot), M. A weapon consist- 
The American, VI. 282. ing of a metal ball or a stone slung to a short 
strap, chain, or braided leather handle, or in any 
similar way : it is used by roughs and criminals, 
and is a dangerous weapon. 
Preterit and past participle 
Longfellow, Carillon. 
slumberously (slum'ber-us-li), adv. Drowsily ; 
sleepily. 
With all his armor and all his spoils about him, [he] casts 
himself slumberously down to rest. slunk 1 (slungk). 
Landor, Imag. Conv., Lord Brooke and Sir P. Sidney. o f slintc 1 . 
slumbery (slum'ber-i), a. [< ME. slombery; < slunk 2 (slungk), . and a 
slumber + -yi.] Slumberous ; inclined to sleep ; ~' 
sleeping ; also, occurring in sleep. 
,, A variant of slink*. 
slunken (slung'ku), a. [Cf. slink 3 , 
Lean; shriveled. [Prov. Eng.] 
hence, figuratively, a slight occasion of re- 
proach. 
No one can rely upon such an one, either with safety to 
his affaire or without a slur to his reputation. 
South, Sermons. 
2. A disparaging or slighting remark; an in- 
sinuation; an innuendo: as, he could never 
speak of him without a slur. 
Mr. Cooling . . . tells me my Lord Generall is become 
mighty low in all people's opinion, and that he hath re- 
ceived several slurs from the King and Duke of York. 
Pepys, Diary, III. 2. 
3f. A trick; a cheat. See slur 1 , r. i., 2. 
All the politics of the great 
Are like the cunning of a cheat, 
That lets his false dice freely run. 
And trusts them to themselves alone, 
But never lets a true one stir 
Without some flng'ring trick or slur. 
S. Sutler, Remains, Miscellaneous Thoughts. 
4. In vocal music, the combination of two or 
more tones of the music sung to a single syl- 
lable. The term originally signified simply a legato 
