slough

• n. 抜け殻; 絶望的な状況; [地理]泥沼; [手術]腐肉
• vt.泥沼に陥る；放棄する
• vi.脱皮する；脱皮する；泥をかき分ける

語源は不明だが、おそらく子音クラスターsl-、切る、裂く、分離する、slab、slip、slat、slit、slotと比較する、cf.skin、skinning、peeling、PIE*skei、切る、裂く、分離する、から。

子音クラスターsl-,slithery,silty,muddyから、slop,slosh,slough,sludgeと比較する。

slough (n.1)

"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."

1. She tried hard to slough off her old personality.

彼女は昔の個性に別れを告げるために努力した。

2.All reptiles have to slough their skin to grow.

すべての爬虫類は成長中に脱皮します。

3.He was sinking into the Slough of Despond.

彼はその時、極度の落胆状態に陥っていた。

4.He was not able to slough off the memories of the past.

彼は過去を忘れることができない。

5.A cicada throws its slough .

セミは脱皮する.