slumn.1
/slʌm/, U.S. /sləm/ I. Senses relating to an area of dense, squalid housing, and related uses.† 1. A room. Obsolete.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > [noun]
clevec825
chamber?c1225
loftc1385
clochera1400
room1438
roomth1567
receipt1593
stance1632
receptacle1634
stanza1648
apartment1715
slum1819
space1921
shovel and broom1928
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 206 Slum, a room.
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) Thus we may have ‘the little slum’,..‘the back slum’, and a slum in front.
1824 Hist. Gaming Houses 28 Regaling..in the back parlour (vulgo slum) of an extremely low-bred Irish widow.
2.
a. A street, alley, court, etc., situated in a crowded district of a town or city and inhabited by people of a low class or by the very poor; a number of these streets or courts forming a thickly populated neighbourhood or district where the houses and the conditions of life are of a squalid and wretched character. Chiefly plural, and frequently in the phrase back slum(s). Also rarely, a house materially unfit for human habitation.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > slum(s)
rookery1824
slum1825
slumdom1882
warren1884
slummery1892
slumland1893
barrack yard1903
tenement yard1914
borgata1929
string slum1939
squatter camp1956
favela1961
(a)
(b)1845 Athenæum 18 Jan. 75 In the thick of the once renowned ‘slums’ of St. Giles's.1860 All Year Round 22 Sept. 570 An obscure cabaret—say pothouse—lying in a slum.1889 J. K. Jerome Idle Thoughts 117 A little mite sitting on a doorstep in a Soho slum.1894 G. A. Sala London up to Date vi. 79 Large tracts of indescribably dirty, profligate, and felonious slums.1955 Times 25 Aug. 5/5 Nowadays people who live in so-called slum houses (a ‘slum’, as officially defined means a house materially unfit for habitation), set a good standard of cleanliness.1972 Observer 31 Dec. 8/2 He had inherited nearly two million slums.figurative.1870 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. (1873) 1st Ser. 84 The slums and stews of the debauched brain.1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy II. 32 The back slums lying in the rear of Broad St.
1851 C. Dickens Let. 3 Apr. (1988) VI. 345 When the back slums of London are going to be invaded.
1871 L. Stephen Playground of Europe (1894) ix. 203 The unspeakable ugliness of a back slum in London.
1880 R. S. Watson Visit to Wazan iv. 72 The back slums are not more inviting than those of many European towns.
b. Theatre. (See quot. 1886.)
ΚΠ
1886 Stage Gossip 69 Such lowly edifices of the drama as wooden buildings of humble erection and booths are frequently designated ‘slums’.
3. Representation of slum life or conditions.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play
king play1469
king game1504
historya1509
chronicle history1600
monology1608
horseplaya1627
piscatory1631
stock play1708
petite pièce1712
mimic1724
ballad opera1730
ballad farce1735
benefit-play1740
potboiler1783
monodrama1793
extravaganza1797
theo-drama1801
monodrame1803
proverb1803
stock piece1804
bespeak1807
ticket-night1812
dramaticle1813
monopolylogue1819
pièce d'occasion1830
interlude1831
mimea1834
costume piece1834
mummers' play1849
history play1850
gag-piece1860
music drama1874
well-made1881
playlet1884
two-decker1884
slum1885
kinderspiel1886
thrill1886
knockabout1887
two-hander1888
front-piece1889
thriller1889
shadow-play1890
mime play1894
problem play1894
one-acter1895
sex play1899
chronicle drama1902
thesis-play1902
star vehicle1904
folk-play1905
radio play1908
tab1915
spy play1919
one-act1920
pièce à thèse1923
dance-drama1924
a mess of plottage1926
turkey1927
weepie1928
musical1930
cliffhanger1931
mime drama1931
triangle drama1931
weeper1934
spine-chiller1940
starrer1941
scorcher1942
teleplay1947
straw-hatter1949
pièce noire1951
pièce rose1951
tab show1951
conversation piece1952
psychodrama1956
whydunit1968
mystery play1975
State of the Nation1980
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Apr. 10/1 I should like to know who would stand five acts of ‘slum’.
II. Nonsensical or discreditable activity, and related uses.† 4.
a. Nonsensical talk or writing; gammon, blarney. Also, gipsy jargon or cant. Obsolete.
ΘΠ
the mind > language > a language > register > [noun] > slang
St. Giles's Greek1785
slum1812
slang1818
slanguage1879
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > insincere or pretentious talk > [noun]
flash1605
sniffling1653
canting1659
cant1710
galbanum1764
gas1793
blarney1796
gammon1805
slum1812
claptrap1819
flam1825
glittering generality1849
bull's wool1850
eyewash1857
bunkum1862
hot air1873
kid1874
fustian1880
flubdub1888
bull1914
oil1917
blah1918
drip1919
piss and wind1922
banana-oil1927
flannel1927
crud1943
old talk1956
ole talk1964
okey-doke1969
yada yada1991
the mind > language > a language > register > [noun] > jargon > used by other groups
indenture Englisha1568
water language1702
jockeyism1802
slum1812
Polari1846
stable-language1856
scientificism1860
water-slang1860
Oxfordish1863
galley-slang1867
pitmatic1885
commercialese1910
legalese1911
academese1917
Hollywoodese1920
businessese1921
Hollywoodism1925
trade unionese1927
advertisingese1929
officese1935
sociologese1940
Whitehallese1940
Newspeak1949
patter1949
Pentagonese1950
educationese1958
computerese1960
managementese1961
spacespeak1963
computer-speak1968
techno-jargon1972
business-speak1973
Eurospeak1975
Euro-jargon1976
technospeak1976
doctorspeak1977
corporate-speak1978
medspeak1979
mellowspeak1979
technobabble1981
teenspeak1982
management-speak1986
codespeak1987
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Indo-Iranian > Indic > Romany > Romany jargon or cant
slum1812
Sinti1896
1812–13 P. Egan Boxiana I. I. 122 The flowing harangue of some dusty cove..lavish with his slum on the beauties possessed by some distinguished pugilist.
1820 in Grose's Dict. Vulgar Tongue (1823) (at cited word) And thus, without more slum, began..To settle..The rigs of this here tip-top nation.
1822 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae iv, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 111 He may have written some pretty things, but he is taken now to slum, scissorsing, namby pamby, and is quite spoiled.
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) The gipsey language, or cant, is slum.
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) Loose, ridiculous talk, is ‘all slum’. ‘None of your slum,’ is said by a girl to a blarneying chap.
b. up to slum, knowing, wideawake; not to be ‘taken in’ or ‘done’.
Π
1857 ‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 19.
c. ‘An insinuation, a discreditable inuendo.’
Π
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) 236.
5. A begging-letter.
ΘΠ
society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > begging letter
scrieve1581
begging-letter1849
slum1851
the mind > language > speech > request > [noun] > one who requests or petitions > letter or document
bill1377
petition1414
supplicationc1419
subligationc1600
fire briefa1643
begging-letter1849
slum1851
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 224/2 A slum's a paper fake.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 311/2 Of these documents there are two sorts, ‘slums’ (letters) and ‘fakements’ (petitions).
6. ‘A chest or package’ ( Slang Dict. 1859).
7. North American.
a. Cheap or imitation jewellery. Also as adj. Criminals' slang.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > [noun] > imitation
doublet1449
St. Martin's beads1616
triplet1877
snide1885
junk1904
costume jewellery1907
slum1914
junk jewellery1920
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > [adjective] > imitation
slum1946
1914 L. E. Jackson & C. R. Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 77 Slum, jewelry of any description, but lately reduced in scope of meaning to include only the less valuable kinds of jewelry... ‘He's got a bale of slum for sloughings.’
1924 G. C. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 418 Slum, plated jewelry.
1931 Amer. Speech 7 102 Nail the stones but blow the slum.
1946 S. S. Jacobs in Mag. Digest Aug. 89/2 A guy buys a slum ring for ten cents.
1955 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. No. 24. 122 Any kind of jewelry, usually exclusive of watches, was—and still is—referred to as slum.
1962 ‘K. Orvis’ Damned & Destroyed vii. 53 Jewellery... Top stuff. No slum.
b. Cheap prizes at a fair, carnival, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > token of victory or supreme excellence > [noun] > prize > cheap prizes at a fair, etc.
slum1929
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > [noun] > cheap or gaudy > gewgaw or trinket > collectively
trifling?1544
trinklement1582
gallantry1687
fegary1724
knick-knackery1801
trinketry1810
feminality1840
foofaraw1848
baublery1850
pretty-prettya1882
slum1929
1929 Sat. Evening Post 19 Oct. 26/2 Business Opportunities hammer at every door in the advertising columns of this trade paper. Slum, 1008 pieces for tie pins, collar pins, brooches, cigarette holders, rings, $695 the lot.
1956 H. Gold Man who was not with It i. 5 The slum prizes dripped from their hands, taffy, teddy-bears, streamers of paper.
Compounds
C1. attributive and in other combinations, as slum area, slum-burrow, slum-dweller, slum-literature, slum-people, slum property, slum street, etc.; slum-bred adj.Many combinations of these types occur in recent newspaper usage. (N.E.D.)
Π
1863 B. Jerrold Signals of Distress 7 It is a genuine bit of slum-literature.
1878 Gordon Jrnl. in Hill G. in C. Africa (1881) 326 These slum people liked their visitor.
1887 Contemp. Rev. Dec. 772 That class rarely stray..from their slum-burrows and dens.
1891 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 548 Tens of millions will be exposed to the physical and mental blight of the ‘submerged’ slum-dweller.
1898 E. Howard To-morrow xiv. 147 What will become of this slum property?.. These wretched slums will be pulled down.
1924 Glasgow Herald 8 Mar. 7 The slum problem is fundamentally not one of stone and lime or cubic space, but of mental and social outlook.
1928 J. Galsworthy Swan Song i. vii. 57 Slum~dwellers were such good sorts!
1932 L. Golding Magnolia St. iii. vi. 537 A tribe of inconceivable people who lived in a slum street in a dark English town.
1935 ‘C. S. Forester’ Afr. Queen iv. 86 His slum-bred father and mother.
1939 C. Day Lewis Child of Misfortune ii. ii. 151 The Church..held slum-property, helped to exploit innocent native tribes and ruined their morals and physique.
1940 ‘G. Orwell’ Inside Whale 20 Low wages and the growth and shift of population had brought into existence a huge, dangerous slum-proletariat.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xviii. 389 A row of crowded slum houses with front doors cheek by jowl.
1959 J. Cary Captive & Free ix. 41 The mid-town terraces which can and have so easily become slum tenements.
1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene (1960) vi. 100 The penalties of the isolated, community-less life of the slum-bred entertainer.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Feb. 27/1 Maple Leafs can muddle into the slum area of fifth place and there are few hoots of derision.
a1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 182 The town itself has some 30,000 or 40,000 inhabitants..who don't want Birmingham slum dwellers dumped on them as overspill.
1979 G. St. Aubyn Edward VII viii. 379 She insisted on being shown his slum property in the East End of London.
1980 ‘J. Melville’ Chrysanthemum Chain 135 Walker made his way out and into the shabby slum street.
C2. Special Combinations:
slum clearance n. the evacuation and demolition of slums, usually accompanied by the rehousing of the inhabitants; frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > [noun] > good health > state of being conducive to > sanitariness > slum clearance
slum clearance1907
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > slum(s) > evacuation and demolition of
slum clearance1907
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [adjective] > slums > evacuation and demolition of
slum clearance1907
slum clearing1977
1900 A. Smith Housing Quest. iii. 60 The clearance of slums should not be taken to make room for housing schemes.]
1907 E. R. Dewsnup Housing Probl. in Eng. xi. 227 Local Authorities..have hesitated to shoulder the financial burden that would result from any general application of the powers of slum clearance placed at their disposal by statute law.
1930 T. E. Lawrence Let. 19 Jan. (1938) 678 The area it occupied turned into a public garden, in pursuance of the slum-clearance scheme.
1936 T. S. Eliot Ess. Anc. & Mod. 132 We recognize that possibility in every work of slum-clearance and housing reform.
1953 E. Smith Guide to Eng. Trad. 133 The necessity of slum~clearance had to be faced.
1961 L. Mumford City in Hist. viii. 220 Such systematic slum clearance projects as Nero's great fire naturally increased the housing shortage.
1979 Punch 28 Nov. 1032/3 Ms Greer..does not establish much that is positive; but she has performed a monumental work of intellectual slum-clearance.
slum clearer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > [noun] > good health > state of being conducive to > sanitariness > slum clearance > person
slum clearer1934
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > slum(s) > evacuation and demolition of > person or authority who
slum clearer1934
1934 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Gangster viii. 177 They were all lofty and spacious enough to satisfy the most determined and particular of slum clearers.
slum clearing adj.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [adjective] > slums > evacuation and demolition of
slum clearance1907
slum clearing1977
1977 Listener 28 Apr. 531/1 If the developer had to pay over a slice to the slum-clearing authorities, this would allow them to rehouse the slum-dwellers.
slumland n. the slums.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > slum(s)
rookery1824
slum1825
slumdom1882
warren1884
slummery1892
slumland1893
barrack yard1903
tenement yard1914
borgata1929
string slum1939
squatter camp1956
favela1961
1893 Graphic 25 Mar. 298/3 The appearance of respectability..deprives him of the glamour of slumland.
1929 S. Leslie Anglo-Catholic i. 10 He felt at home in the East End and refreshed..when he lay back at night and sniffed the indefinable steam of slumland.
1978 D. Murphy Place Apart vi. 110 I..cycled back to slumland to spend the rest of the day with Catholic families.
slum landlord n. one who lets slum property to tenants, esp. one who allows his property to fall into disrepair.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > providing with dwelling > [noun] > letting slum property > one who
slum landlord1893
slumlord1953
the mind > possession > possessor > [noun] > owner > landowner > landlord > slum landlord
slum landlord1893
slumlord1953
slumlordship1966
1893 G. B. Shaw Widowers' Houses iii. vii. 84 The worst slum landlord in London.
1931 W. Holtby Poor Caroline iii. 97 There was so much to be done..slum landlords to be confronted.
1972 C. Drummond Death at Bar vii. 179 A slum landlord who augmented his meagre rents in strange and unlawful ways.
slum landlordism n. the practice of letting slum property.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > providing with dwelling > [noun] > letting slum property
slum landlordism1892
slumlordship1966
society > trade and finance > selling > hiring or letting out > [noun] > letting slum property
slum landlordism1892
1892 Black & White 17 Dec. 698/1 As a discussion, with open doors, of the pros and cons of slum-landlordism..Mr Shaw's Widowers' Houses is..a very considerable piece of work.
1967 Sunday Times 30 Apr. 11/1 Slum landlordism..has not been seriously curtailed.
slumlord n. U.S. = slum landlord n. above.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > providing with dwelling > [noun] > letting slum property > one who
slum landlord1893
slumlord1953
the mind > possession > possessor > [noun] > owner > landowner > landlord > slum landlord
slum landlord1893
slumlord1953
slumlordship1966
1953 Chicago Daily News 12 Sept. 3/7 Reporters..found that slumlords frequently twist Illinois' trust laws into blinds for escaping detection.
1957 N.Y. Times Mag. 12 May 36/3 The landlord had bitterly protested..that he was not a ‘slumlord’ and avowed that he was ready to put the building in condition if he could get a guarantee that it would stay that way.
1978 S. Wilson Dealer's Move vii. 121 A big place in Surrey—it belonged to one of the king slum-lords.
slumlordship n.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > providing with dwelling > [noun] > letting slum property
slum landlordism1892
slumlordship1966
the mind > possession > possessor > [noun] > owner > landowner > landlord > slum landlord
slum landlord1893
slumlord1953
slumlordship1966
1966 Atlantic Nov. 128 Within the chivalric order of slumlordship he is a very minor vassal.
slum-sister n. a woman devoted to charitable and educative work in the slums.
ΘΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > philanthropy > [noun] > visiting for philanthropic purposes > philanthropic visitor
visiterc1384
visitorc1430
visitant1661
prison visitor1837
slummer1887
slum-sister1890
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > slum(s) > woman devoted to charitable work in slums
slum-sister1890
1890 Guardian 31 Dec. 2096/1 This ‘slum-sister’ gathers children for instruction on Sunday afternoons.
Derivatives
ˈslumism n. [-ism suffix] the existence of slums; the deprivations and other ills associated with or characteristic of life in the slums.
ΘΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > part of town or city > [noun] > slum(s) > existence of
slumism1967
1967 Britannica Bk. of Year 1966 804/2 Slumism, the existence of highly congested urban residential areas characterized by deteriorated unsanitary buildings, poverty, and social disorganization.
1967 Harper's Mag. Feb. 83 We must show the same unhesitating commitment to fighting slumism, poverty, ignorance, prejudice, and unemployment that we show to fighting Communism.
1971 L. Chester Martin Luther King xi. 262 We are victims of slumism!
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
slumn.2
/slʌm/, U.S. /sləm/ U.S.
= slime n. 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > ore > [noun] > crushed ore
knock-bark1653
schlich1677
slick1683
sludge1757
slime1758
pulp1837
debris1871
slum1874
1874 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 350 The discharge near the top carries off light particles and slums.
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 97 This material..is like the slum or tailings from a mill.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
slumn.3
slang.
= slumgullion n. 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > meat dishes > [noun] > stewed meat
stewpot1542
estew1566
fricassee1568
ragout1652
pepperpot1698
grenade1706
haricot1706
pupton1706
lobscouse1707
stew1756
puchero1802
granada1806
bredie1815
muddle1833
scouse1840
slum1847
hashmagandy1851
ropa vieja1855
chilli con carne1857
sorpotel1863
goulash1866
daube1877
paprikash1877
chilli1886
pot-pie1890
slumgullion1902
cholent1903
cracker-hash1904
cracker-stew1909
gippo1914
waterzooi1915
Fanny Adams1921
adobo1938
cassoulet1940
feijoada1941
coddle1942
stifado1950
rancho1957
tinga1964
1847 J. Mitchell Reminisc. College 117 Though the son of Vulcan found the pork and cabbage harmless, I am sure that slum would have been a match for him.
1865 ‘M. Twain’ Notebk. 28 Jan. (1935) i. 6 Chili-beans and dish-water three times today as usual and some kind of ‘slum’ which the Frenchman called ‘hash’.
1898 E. H. Blatchford Let. 17 July (1920) 37 Beef stew, commonly known as slum.
1909 R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins 246 He..started to peel spuds for the evenin' slum.
1918 Stars & Stripes 5 Apr. 4 Everyone knows that there are at least three different kinds of slum—the watered kind, the more solid variety and the occasional special sort that wears a pie-crust. The Marines describe these three types in sea-lingo: ‘slum with the tide in’, ‘slum with the tide out’, and ‘slum with an overcoat’.
1928 Sat. Evening Post (N.Y.) 12 May 117/2 His steaming mess kit full of slum.
1972 J. M. Minifie Homesteader xx. 182 There would be white table-cloths and sparkling glass and silver, instead of a mess-tin of slum on a dirty table in barracks.
Compounds
Special Combinations.
slum burner n. an army cook.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > cook > [noun] > army cook
cook1466
slum burner1930
1930 Our Army Aug. 33 The..cook..is a ‘slum-burner’.
1943 M. Hargrove See here, Private Hargrove xlii. 118 Oscar of the Waldorf, in the Army, would still be..a slum-burner.
slum gun n. a field-kitchen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > cooking establishment or kitchen > [noun] > field or army kitchen
field kitchen1796
trench kitchen1860
slum gun1917
soup gun1918
popote1928
1917 R. Batchelder Watching & Waiting on Border vii. 90 The regiment owned a field~kitchen, or ‘slum-gun’, a bulky vehicle in which food might be prepared on the march.
1947 D. Runyon Poems for Men 213 Our slum-gun busted down.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
slumv.
/slʌm/, U.S. /sləm/ 1. transitive. Cant. (See quots.)
ΚΠ
1859 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang 96 Slum the gorger, to cheat on the sly, to be an eye servant.
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 297 Slum, to hide, to pass to a confederate.
2.
a. To do (work) hurriedly and carelessly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > do, deal with, acquire, etc., quickly [verb (transitive)] > do hurriedly and carelessly
slum1865
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > be careless or heedless of [verb (transitive)] > perform without accuracy or thoroughness > specific work or a task
scamp1837
sham1848
slight1854
slum1865
1865 Daily Tel. 25 Aug. The builders were not men to ‘slum’ or ‘scamp’ their work.
b. intransitive. (See quot. 1965.) Also transitive, to shear (a sheep, etc.) in this manner. Australian. Sheep-shearing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > sheep-shearing > shear sheep [verb (intransitive)] > manner or technique
to open up1886
to play the piano1933
slum1965
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > sheep-shearing > shear sheep [verb (transitive)] > manner, technique, or part
beard1429
belt?1523
feazea1642
shirl1688
dag1706
tag1707
clat1838
tomahawk1859
rough1878
to open up1886
pink1897
crutch1915
barrow1933
slum1965
1965 J. S. Gunn Terminol. Shearing Industry ii. 24 A shearer slums if he works as fast as he can, and perhaps carelessly, while the pen is full, and thus takes a large proportion of the easy sheep.
1966 J. Carter People of Inland (1967) xvii. 165 Then at shearing time, these same ‘guns’ can slum pen after pen of fine, clean sheep, because the opportunity to set a new record has presented itself.
3. intransitive.
a. To go into, or frequent, slums for discreditable purposes; ‘to saunter about, with a suspicion, perhaps, of immoral pursuits’.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [verb (intransitive)] > associate with loose woman > specific
sluma1860
a1860 in Oxford use.
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) Slum, to saunter about, with a suspicion, perhaps, of immoral pursuit. —Cambridge Univ. Slang.
b. ‘To keep to back streets to avoid observation’ (Barrère and Leland, 1897).
4.
a. To visit slums for charitable or philanthropic purposes, or out of curiosity, esp. as a fashionable pursuit. Also with it. Frequently in to go slumming (see slumming n. 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > philanthropy > [verb (intransitive)] > visit for philanthropic purposes
slum1884
society > leisure > social event > visit > visiting > visit [verb (intransitive)] > visit slums for curiosity or charitable purposes
slum1884
1884 Referee 22 June (Cassell) A wealthy lady went slumming through the Dials the other day.
1884 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 1 Oct. 2/3 A party of young fashionable people of New York thought they would go a slumming.
1887 Good Words 28 238 He had taken tea hundreds of times in workmen's houses; he had ‘slummed’ so far back as 1846.
1899 W. James Let. 8 Feb. (1920) II. 88 Kipling knows perfectly well that our camps in the tropics are not college settlements or our armies bands of philanthropists, slumming it.
b. To accept, temporarily and voluntarily, a standard (of living, travel, etc.) lower than that to which one is accustomed; to mix with one's inferiors. Frequently as present participle and with it. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > become degraded or debased [verb (intransitive)] > accept inferior standards
mob1772
slum1928
1928 E. Wallace Gunner xxiii. 192 ‘What are you doing down here?’ ‘Slumming,’ said Gunner Hayes coolly. ‘I like now and again to establish contact with the underworld.’
1944 N. Coward Middle East Diary 95 We quite enjoyed slumming it in the ordinary pullman.
1946 R. G. Collingwood Idea of Hist. iv. 145 It is necessary to go slumming among the most unsavoury relics of third~rate historical work.
1951 E. Coxhead One Green Bottle ii. 57 He isn't quite a professor yet. She's just slumming till he becomes one.
1959 Ann. Reg. 1958 192 Mr Rockefeller, as he slummed it in New York in the battle with his fellow millionaire the Democratic Mr Harriman.
1978 P. Porter Cost of Seriousness 35 On its dorsal, a monster is drumming Messages for the new world—each wraith Is a spirit of old Europe slumming.
1981 Birds Autumn 68/1 It [sc. a brambling] was quite unabashed by the proximity of the feeding area to the back door and was happily ‘slumming it’ with the resident sparrows, chaffinches and greenfinches.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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