"muddy place," Old English sloh "soft, muddy ground," of uncertain origin. Compare Middle Low German sloch "muddy place," Middle High German sluoche "ditch." Figurative use (of moral sunkenness or Bunyan's "Slough of Despond," 1678) attested from mid-13c.
slough (v.)
"to cast off" (as the skin of a snake or other animal), 1720, originally of diseased tissue, from Middle English noun slough "shed skin of a snake" (see slough (n.)). Related: Sloughed; sloughing.
slough (n.2)
"cast-off skin" (of a snake or other animal), early 14c., slughe, slouh, probably related to Old Saxon sluk "skin of a snake," Middle High German sluch "snakeskin, wineskin," Middle Low German slu "husk, peel, skin," German Schlauch "wineskin;" from Proto-Germanic *sluk-, of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE root *sleug- "to glide."
雙語例句
1. She tried hard to slough off her old personality.
她努力告別從前的個性。
來自柯林斯例句
2. All reptiles have to slough their skin to grow.
所有爬行動物生長過程中都要蛻皮。
來自柯林斯例句
3. He was sinking into the Slough of Despond.
他那時正陷入極度沮喪的狀態(tài)。
來自《權(quán)威詞典》
4. He was not able to slough off the memories of the past.