slough

/ˈslü/

Middle English sloughe, slo, from Old English slōh; akin to Middle High German slouche ditch

noun

  1. a place of deep mud or mire

  2. swamp

  3. an inlet on a river; also : backwater

verb

  1. to engulf in a slough

  2. to plod through or as if through mud : slog

noun

  1. the cast-off skin of a snake

  2. a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer

  3. something that may be shed or cast off