DCHP-1 Online

slough † 

• 1 n. Prairie Provinces, West See 1902 quote at pothole (def. 3a).

  See also: pothole (def. 3a)  

  • This meaning of slough, invariably pronounced [slu], is peculiar to the West and Northwest, roughly between the Lakehead and the Rockies. In B.C. the term, usually pronounced [slu], has taken on other meanings. In the East slough, usually pronounced [slaʊ] if used at all, is for most people a book word.

• 2a n. B.C. a low-lying meadow subject to flooding during spring runoffs and productive in hay.

  See also: slough meadow  

• 2b n. B.C. a widening in a creek to create a mud-bottomed, swampy stretch.

  See also: slough-creek  

• 2c n. an inlet; lagoon.

• 3 n. Northwest a narrow, meandering, sluggish side-channel of a river, usually shallow and often coming to a dead end.

  See also: snye (def. 2a)