SLA 
272 
The thick and well-grown fog doth matt my smoother slades; 
And on the lower leas, as on the higher hades. 
The daintie clover grows. Drayton. 
SLADE POINT, a cape on the north-east coast of New 
Holland ; 15 miles south-east of Cape Hillsborough. 
SLAG, s. The dross or recrement of metal.—Not only the 
calces but the glasses of metal may be of differing colours 
from the natural colour or the metal, as I have observed 
about the glass or slag of copper. Boyle. 
SL AGELSE, a town of Denmark, in the island of Zealand. 
Population 1800; 50 miles west-south-west of Copenhagen. 
Lat. 55. 27. N. long. 11. 22. 45. E. 
SLAIDBURN, a parish of England, West Riding of 
Yorkshire; 11J miles south-west of Kettle. Population 
2175. 
SLAIE, s. [jlse, Saxon. Dr. Johnson cites this word, 
without any etymology, merely from Ainsworth. It was in 
use long before. See it in Sherwood. It is properly sley, 
though sometimes written also slay. See Sley.] A weaver’s 
reed. 
SLAIN. The participle passive of slay, [plajen, Saxon.] 
The king grew vain. 
Fought all his battles o’er again; 
And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain. 
Dryden. 
SLAINS, a parish of Scotland, in Aberdeenshire, on the 
sea coast of Buchan, of a triangular figure, about 5 miles 
long, and 3 broad. Population 1065. 
SLAITHWA1T, a township of England, West Riding of 
Yorkshire, on the banks of the Huddersfield canal; 5j miles 
west-south-west of Huddersfield. Population 2277. 
To SLAKE, v. a. [from slaek, Skinner; from slaecka, 
Icelandic, to quench, Lye.] To quench; to extinguish. 
If I digg’d up thy forefather’s graves, 
And hung their rotten coffins up in chains. 
It could not slake mine ire, nor ease my heart. Shakspeare. 
It is used of lime; so that it is uncertain whether the 
original notion of to slack or slake lime be to powder or 
quench it.—That which he saw happened to be fresh lime, 
and gathered before any rain had fallen to slake it. Wood¬ 
ward. 
To SLAKE, v. n. To grow less tense; to be relaxed. 
If she the body’s nature did partake. 
Her strength would with the body’s strength decay; 
But when the body’s strongest sinews slake. 
Then is the soul most active, quick, and gay. Davies. 
To abate.—The fever slaketh. Barret. —To go out; to 
be extinguished. 
She perceiving that his flame did slake. 
And lov’d her only for his trophy’s sake. Brown. 
SLAKE, s. See Slack. 
SLALEY, a parish of England, in Northumberland; 5 
miles south-east of Hexham. Population 558. 
To SLAM, v.a. [Icel. slaemra, leviter verberare, CEedere: 
aliis cognatum creditur, Icel. lemia, verberare. SereniusJ] 
To slaughter ; to crush. A word not used but in low con¬ 
versation. It is used in the north both for to beat or cuff a 
person, and also to push violently: as, he slamm'd-to the 
door. See Grose. It is also used at cards: as, he is slam- 
med , that is, beaten without winning one trick. 
SLAM, s. Defeat: applied at cards, to the adversary who 
has not reckoned a single point. A low phrase. 
Thus all the while a club was trump, 
There’s none could ever beat the rump ; 
Until a noble general came. 
And gave the cheaters a clear slam. Loyal Songs. 
SLAMANNAN, or St. Lawrence, a parish of Scotland, 
in Stirlingshire, about 5 miles long, and from 3 to 4 broad. 
Population 993. 
SLA'MKIN, or Sla'mmerkim, s . [perhaps from the Ger¬ 
man sch/ani, dirt.] A slatternly women; a trollop. A vul¬ 
gar word. 
SLA 
To SLANDER, v. a. [ esclander , old French, the same.l 
To censure falsely ; to belie. 
Slander Valentine 
With falsehood, cowardice, and poor descent. Shakspeare. 
SLA'NDER, s. [ esclandre , old Fr. from the verb.] False 
invective. 
When slanders do not live in tongues; 
When cut-purses come not to throngs. Shakspeare. 
Disgrace; reproach. 
Thou slander of thy mother’s heavy womb! 
Thou loathed issue of thy father’s loins! Shakspeare. 
Disreputation; ill name. 
You shall not find me, daughter, 
After the slander of most step-mothers, 
Ill-ey’d unto you. Shakspeare. 
SLA'NDERER, s. One who belies another; one who 
lays false imputations on another.—Thou shalt answer for 
this, thou slanderer. Dryden. 
SLA'NDEROUS, adj. Uttering reproachful falsehoods. 
What king so strong 
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue ? Shakspeare. 
Containing reproachful falsehoods; calumnious.—I was 
never able till now to choke the mouth of such detractors, 
with the certain knowledge of their slanderous untruths. 
Spenser. 
We lay these honours on this man, 
To ease ourselves of divers slanderous loads. Shakspeare 
SLA'NDEROUSLY, adv. Calumniously; with false 
reproach.—I may the better satisfy them who object these 
doubts, and slanderously bark at the courses which are held 
against that traiterous earl and his adherents. Spenser. 
SLA'NDEROUSNESS, s. State or quality of being re¬ 
proachful. Scott. 
SLANE, a town of Ireland, in the county of Meath, de¬ 
lightfully situated on the left bank of the Boyne, over which 
there is a bridge. This town, though now reduced to a vil¬ 
lage, constituted formerly one of the boroughs in the palati¬ 
nate of Meath. Here was very early an abbey of regular 
canons. We are told that Dagobert, king of Austria, when 
only ten years old, was seized by Grimoald Mayor, shorn as 
a monk, and confined in this abbey, where he remained 20 
years, when he w^s recalled to his kingdom. This town 
suffered much from the invasions of the Danes. In 1170 
and 1175 it was taken, sacked, and burned by the English 
under earl Strongbow; 3 miles west of Drogheda. 
SLANEY, a river of Ireland, which runs into Wexford 
harbour. 
SLANG. The preterite of sling.— David slang a stone, 
and smote the Philistine. 1 Sam. 
SLANO, S., a small sea-port of Austrian Dalmatia; 20 
miles north-west of Ragusa. 
SLANGE (Nicholas), a Dutch historian of considerable 
celebrity, was born at Slagelse in the year 1657, of which 
place his father was the minister, and he was afterwards 
bishop of Viborg. Nicholas travelled at an early period, and 
in 1679 he paid a visit to Oxford, and in the year following 
he went to Cambridge. On his return he became, in 1681, 
secretary to the Danish chancery, and after going through 
various gradations of rank and office, he was ennobled in the 
year 1731. He died in 1737. He wrote “A History of 
Christian IV.” which was published at Copenhagen in 1749, 
in two volumes, folio. It was afterwards translated into the 
German language. Gen. Biog. 
SLANK, s. [ alga marina .] An herb. Ainsworth. 
SLANT, or Sla'nting, adj. [from slanghe, a serpent, 
Dutch. Skinner. Dr. Johnson. — From the Swedish, 
slant, of slinta, to slip, to miss one’s step. Sereniusi] 
Oblique; not direct; not perpendicular. 
Late the clouds 
Justling, or push’d with winds, rude in their shock. 
Time the slant lightning; whose thwart flame driven down. 
Kindles the gummy bark of fir and pine. Milton . 
SLANT, 
