1305
sleeper
else; a servant without personal freedom who is treated as a piece of property: *brutal and inhumane treatment of slaves* | *He treats his wife like a slave* ➔ compare SERF; see also ENSLAVE, WAGE SLAVE, SLAVERY (CULTURAL NOTE) **2** [of, to] a person completely in the control of another person or thing: *We're all the slaves of habit.* | *He's a slave to drink.* **3** What did your last slave die off? *infml humor* (used to someone who has just asked you to do something that you think they should do themselves)
**slave²** v [I(AWAY)] to work like a slave; work hard with little rest: *I slaved (away) all day over a hot stove to produce this meal, and now they've hardly eaten any of it.*
**'slave ,driver** n *infml derog* someone who makes people work very hard: *The boss is a real slave driver.*
**,slave 'labour** n [U] **1** slaves used for work: *The pyramids were largely built by slave labour.* **2** *humor* hard work done for little or no pay, or because one is forced to do it
**slav·er¹** /'sleɪvə/ v [I] **1** to let liquid (SALIVA) come out of the mouth uncontrollably, because of excitement, hunger etc: *The dog was slavering.* **2** [(over)] *especially infml, usually derog* to be eager or excited, especially in an offensively unpleasant way: *The papers pretend to disapprove of this scandal, while at the same time slavering over every salacious detail.*
**slav·er²** /'sleɪvə/ n *old use* **1** a ship that carried slaves **2** a person in the business of selling slaves
**sla·ve·ry** /'sleɪvəri/ n [U] **1** the system of having slaves: *the abolition of slavery* **2** the condition of being a slave: *The prisoners were sold into slavery.* ➔ see also WHITE SLAVERY
**CULTURAL NOTE**
Both the US and UK were involved in the slave trade from the 17th century until the 19th century. Slaves were taken from Africa and usually sold in the colonies (COLONY) of European countries. Often this involved journeys in ships with terrible conditions for the slaves, many of whom died. Slaves were usually given no education, and families were often separated when children or parents were sold to different people. Some owners treated their slaves well, but many others treated them very badly. In the US, the northern states tried to end slavery, but the southern states strongly disagreed with this, because they were very dependent on using slaves on their farms. This disagreement was one of the main causes of the AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. People in the US and UK who believed that slavery was wrong and wanted to ABOLISH it (=end it) were called 'abolitionists'. In his EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, President LINCOLN announced officially that slavery would be abolished in the US on January 1, 1863. ➔ see Cultural Note at DEEP SOUTH; see also AFRICAN AMERICAN, UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
**'slave state** n any of the US states where slavery was permitted and practised before 1863 ➔ see also SLAVERY (CULTURAL NOTE)
**'slave trade** also **'slave ,traffic** [the] the business of buying and selling slaves, which is forbidden by law in all countries
**slav·ish** /'sleɪvɪʃ/ adj *derog* **1** showing complete obedience to, dependence on, and willingness to work for others; slavelike: *Her slavish devotion to duty is unhealthy.* **2** copying or copied very closely or exactly from something else; not fresh or original: *It's a slavish translation, very faithful to the original but hardly understandable in English.* ➔**~ly** adv ➔**~ness** n [U]
**Slaw·on·ic** /slə'vɒnɪk||-'vɑ:-/ adj connected with the Slavs of eastern Europe or with any of the languages they speak. The Slavonic languages include Russian, Polish, Czech, and Serbo-Croat.
**slaw** /slɔ:/ n *AmE* COLESLAW
**slay** /sleɪ/ v **slew** /slu:/, **slain** /sleɪn/ [T] *lit* or *AmE* to kill violently; murder: (*AmE*) 'Top businessman slain by terrorists' (title of newspaper story) ➔ see KILL (USAGE) ➔**~er** n
**SLD, the** /,es el 'di:/ abbrev. for the Social and Liberal Democrats; a former name for the Liberal Democrats, a British political party ➔ see LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
**sleaze** /sli:z/ n [C;U] *infml* (a thing or person having) the quality of being sleazy: *I like her but her brother's a real sleaze.* | *There's lots of sleaze moving into this neighbourhood now.*
**sleazy** /'sli:zi/ adj *derog* cheap, dirty, poor-looking, and often suggesting immorality; DISREPUTABLE: *They took me to a sleazy back-street hotel that could easily have been a brothel.* ➔**~ziness** n [U]
**sled** /sled/ v **-dd-** [I] *AmE* SLEDGE
**sledge¹** /sledʒ/ *BrE* || **sled** *AmE* ➔ n **1** a vehicle made for carrying people or goods over snow, having two long metal blades and sometimes pulled by dogs **2** a light frame or board, sometimes on metal blades, used for sliding over snow, especially down slopes for sport ➔ compare SLEIGH
**sledge²** *BrE* || **sled** v [I] to go or race down slopes on a sledge: *When it snows we go sledging.*
**sledge·ham·mer** /'sledʒˌhæmər/ n a large heavy hammer for swinging with both hands to drive in posts, break stones etc
**sleek¹** /sli:k/ adj **1** (especially of hair or fur) smooth and shining (as if) from good health and care: *a sleek Siamese cat* **2** attractively neat in appearance, and without unnecessary decoration: *The new car's sleek lines (=attractive shape) should make it very popular.* ➔**~ly** adv ➔**~ness** n [U]
**sleek²** v [T+obj+adv/prep] to cause (hair or fur) to be smooth and shining: *He sleeked down/back his hair with water before going out.*
**sleep¹** /sli:p/ n **1** [U] the natural resting state of unconsciousness of the body: *Try to get eight hours' sleep a night.* | *I haven't had enough sleep lately.* | (fig), *He says there might be trouble, but I'm not going to lose any sleep* (=become anxious) *over it.* **2** [S] an act or period of sleeping: *I had a short sleep after lunch.* | *She fell into a deep sleep.* **3** get to sleep [usually in negatives] to succeed in sleeping: *I couldn't get to sleep last night; I was too excited.* **4** go to sleep **a)** to begin to sleep; fall asleep **b)** *infml* (of an arm, leg etc) to become unable to feel, or begin to feel PINS AND NEEDLES **5** put to sleep *euph* **a)** to kill (a suffering animal) without cruelty **b)** *infml* to make (a person) unconscious, especially for an operation ➔ see also ASLEEP, BEAUTY SLEEP
**sleep²** v slept /slept/ **1** [I] to rest in sleep: *He likes to sleep for an hour in the afternoon.* | *I didn't sleep very well last night.* | *I usually sleep late on Sundays.* | *As he'd missed his train, we invited him to sleep the night with us.* (=sleep in our house for that night) **2** [T] to provide beds or places for sleep for (a number of people): *The back seat of the car folds down to sleep two.* **3** sleep like a log *infml* to sleep deeply, especially without moving **4** sleep rough to sleep in uncomfortable conditions, especially out of doors **5** to sleep: *perchance to dream* quote a phrase from Shakespeare's play *Hamlet* sometimes used by people speaking about what may happen after death
~ **sleep around** *phr v* [I] *infml derog* to have sex with a lot of different people; be PROMISCUOUS
~ **sleep in** *phr v* [I] **1** to intentionally sleep later than usual in the morning; LIE in: *I often sleep in on Sundays.* ➔ compare OVERSLEEP **2** *BrE* to sleep at one's place of work; LIVE in ➔ opposite SLEEP OUT
~ **sleep sthg** ↔ **off** *phr v* [T] **1** to get rid of (a feeling or effect of something) by sleeping: *He went to bed to sleep off his enormous lunch.* **2** sleep it off *infml* to sleep until one is no longer drunk
~ **sleep on sthg** *phr v* [T] to delay deciding on (a problem) until the next day; spend a night considering: *Look, there's no need to make a decision now; why don't you go home and sleep on it?*
~ **sleep out** *phr v* [I] **1** to sleep away from home or outdoors **2** *BrE* to sleep away from one's place of work ➔ opposite SLEEP IN
~ **sleep through sthg** *phr v* [T] to fail to wake up during; be asleep and miss hearing, seeing etc: *I don't know how you could have slept through that dreadful noise/thrilling performance.*
~ **sleep together** *phr v* [I] (of two people who are not married) to have sex
~ **sleep with sbdy** *phr v* [T] to have sex with (someone one is not married to)
**sleep·er** /'sli:pə/ n **1** a person sleeping **2** a person who sleeps in the stated way: *I didn't hear the explosion - I'm a*