Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Slouch

Slouch

,
Noun.
[Cf. Icel.
sl[GREEK]kr
a slouching felloew, and E.
slack
,
slug
, a lazy fellow.]
1.
A hanging down of the head; a drooping attitude; a limp appearance; an ungainly, clownish gait; a sidewise depression or hanging down, as of a hat brim.
2.
An awkward, heavy, clownish fellow.
[Colloq.]
Slouth hat
,
a soft, limp hat of unstiffened cloth or felt.

Slouch

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Slouched
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Slouching
.]
1.
To droop, as the head.
2.
To walk in a clumsy, lazy manner.
[Colloq.]

Slouch

,
Verb.
T.
To cause to hang down; to depress at the side;
as, to
slouth
the hat
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Slouch

SLOUCH

,
Noun.
[This word probably belongs to the root of lag, slug.]
1.
A hanging down; a depression of the head or of some other part of the body, an ungainly clownish gait.
2.
An awkward, heavy, clownish fellow.

SLOUCH

,
Verb.
I.
To hang down; to have a down cast clownish look, gait or manner.

SLOUCH

,
Verb.
T.
To depress; to cause to hang down; as, to slouch the hat.

Definition 2024


slouch

slouch

English

Noun

slouch (countable and uncountable, plural slouches)

  1. A hanging down of the head; a drooping posture; a limp appearance
    He sat with an unenthusiastic slouch.
  2. Any depression or hanging down, as of a hat brim.
    The plant hung in a permanent slouch.
  3. Someone who is slow to act.
    • 2014, Ian Jack, "Is this the end of Britishness", The Guardian, 16 September 2014:
      In any case, Scotland has been no slouch at national invention. The Greek temple to commemorate James Thomson wasn’t the only monument raised by the 11th Earl of Buchan, who was a friend and neighbour of Walter Scott, and as great a romancer in his obsession with ruins, battlements and fancy dress.
  4. (dated) An awkward, heavy, clownish fellow.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

slouch (third-person singular simple present slouches, present participle slouching, simple past and past participle slouched)

  1. (intransitive) To hang or droop; to adopt a limp posture
    Do not slouch when playing a flute.
  2. (intransitive) To walk in a clumsy, lazy manner.
    I slouched to the fridge to see if there was anything to eat.

References

  1. slouch” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).