Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Slum

Slum

(slŭm)
,
Noun.
[CF.
Slump
,
Noun.
]
1.
A foul back street of a city, especially one filled with a poor, dirty, degraded, and often vicious population; any low neighborhood or dark retreat; – usually in the plural;
as, Westminster
slums
are haunts for theives
.
Dickens.
2.
pl.
(Mining)
Same as
Slimes
.

Definition 2024

slum

slum

English

Slum homes in Mumbai, India.

Noun

slum ‎(plural slums)

  1. A dilapidated neighborhood where many people live in a state of poverty.
    • Charles Dickens, Gambling.
      Go to the half built-upon slums behind Battlebridge […] you will find groups of boys […] squatting in the mud, among the rubbish, the broken bricks, the dust-heaps, and the fragments of timber […]

Synonyms

  • See Wikisaurus:slum

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

slum ‎(third-person singular simple present slums, present participle slumming, simple past and past participle slummed)

  1. To visit a neighborhood of a status below one's own.
  2. To associate with people or engage in activities with a status below one's own.

Anagrams

Etymology

Early 19th century (originally slang, in the sense ‘room’ esp ‘back room’ (attested 1812)): of unknown origin

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ʌm

Similar Results