slave
1 of 3noun
ˈslāv 
plural slaves
1
: a person held in forced servitude
2
disapproving : a person who is completely subservient to a dominating influence
a slave to fashion/technology
3
: a device (such as the printer of a computer) that is directly responsive to another
4
: drudge, toiler
slave
2 of 3verb
slaved; slaving; slaves
intransitive verb
1
: to work very hard for long hours or under difficult conditions : drudge
2
: to traffic in people to be sold into slavery
transitive verb
1
: to make directly responsive to another mechanism
2
archaic : enslave
slave
3 of 3adjective
1
a
: of, relating to, involving, or used for slavery or enslaved people
slave traders
a slave auction
slave owners
a slave economy
The relation between freedom and literacy became the compelling theme of the slave narratives, the great body of printed books that ex-slaves generated to assert their common humanity with white Americans and to indict the system that had oppressed them.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. b
: held in or forced into servitude : enslaved
born of slave parents
slave workers
c
: favoring or legally permitting slavery
a slave territory
the slave states
2
: operated by remote control
the device now tucked away behind the dials isn't properly a clockwork but a … slave unit activated by an electric clock inside the bank The New Yorker
The New Yorker specifically : responding to manipulation of the master controls of an apparatus
There's also provision for attaching external slave flash units for greater flash range when using print film. Herbert Keppler
Herbert Keppler … had the ultimate compact-disc system—a master machine and four optional slave machines—that will load and play 250 discs altogether … William D. Marbach
William D. Marbach 
Synonyms
Noun
- bondman
- bondsman
- chattel
- thrall
Verb
- bang away
- beaver (away)
- dig (away)
- drudge
- endeavor
- fag
- grub
- hump
- hustle
- labor
- moil
- peg (away)
- plod
- plow
- plug
- slog
- strain
- strive
- struggle
- sweat
- toil
- travail
- tug
- work
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun He's a slave to fashion trends. Do it yourself! I'm not your slave! Verb I slaved all morning to get the work done on time. She's been slaving away at her homework.
Recent Examples on the Web Maya Chung, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2022 As a slave, the Negro revolted—fought, bled and died to break the chains that bound him. Matthew F. Delmont, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Aug. 2022 Freed after a quarter-century as a slave, Wilson sent letters to the Freedmen’s Bureau seeking assistance locating his siblings, but unfortunately, the letters were never delivered. Brian Steinberg, Variety, 16 Aug. 2022 According to the students’ research, Nott spent the first 30 years of his life as a slave. Alison Cross, Hartford Courant, 1 Aug. 2022 According to Genesis, Abraham’s great-grandson, Joseph, was sold into Egypt as a slave. The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 July 2022 Bridget Mason, later nicknamed Biddy, was born in 1818 as a slave to a Mississippi man named Robert Smith. Robert L. Woodson Sr., WSJ, 17 June 2022 While standing on this rock, Henderson’s grandfather said, your great-grandfather was sold as a slave at the age of 12. Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2022 When the exhibition finishes at the end of August, the objects will travel to Ouidah, once a slave port, where authorities are building a new slavery museum. Elian Peltier, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Aug. 2022 Sara Miller Llana, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Jan. 2022 In other words, the founding fathers were well aware of the economic advantage to slave owners of limiting the Atlantic slave trade. New York Times, 23 Dec. 2021 Change your scenery and let someone else slave over the stove. Heidi Mitchell, WSJ, 19 Oct. 2021 Another school in Utah — Centennial Middle School in Provo — randomly assigned students to be slaves and slave masters for a project about the Civil War. Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Dec. 2021 Born to slave parents in 1838 in Arkansas, Bass Reeves was a member of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Okla Jones, Essence, 28 Oct. 2021 Another school in Utah — Centennial Middle School in Provo — came under fire in the spring for randomly assigning students to be slaves and slave masters for a project about the Civil War. Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 19 Aug. 2021 Sampson presents a comprehensive view of the obstacles the young poet faced: illness, devastating personal losses, fluctuating family fortunes (which were tied to slave labor in Jamaica), and rigid cultural and social norms. Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Sep. 2021 Historians have noted that this harkens back to the Fugitive Slave laws of the 19th century, which offered cash incentives to white Americans to turn in their Black neighbors to slave catchers. Jenny Singer, Glamour, 9 Sep. 2021 See More
Noun
In Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls, the novelist imagines the Trojan War from the perspective of Briseis, a minor female character in the Iliad who is taken as a slave by Achilles. Maya Chung, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2022 As a slave, the Negro revolted—fought, bled and died to break the chains that bound him. Matthew F. Delmont, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Aug. 2022 Freed after a quarter-century as a slave, Wilson sent letters to the Freedmen’s Bureau seeking assistance locating his siblings, but unfortunately, the letters were never delivered. Brian Steinberg, Variety, 16 Aug. 2022 According to the students’ research, Nott spent the first 30 years of his life as a slave. Alison Cross, Hartford Courant, 1 Aug. 2022 According to Genesis, Abraham’s great-grandson, Joseph, was sold into Egypt as a slave. The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 July 2022 Bridget Mason, later nicknamed Biddy, was born in 1818 as a slave to a Mississippi man named Robert Smith. Robert L. Woodson Sr., WSJ, 17 June 2022 While standing on this rock, Henderson’s grandfather said, your great-grandfather was sold as a slave at the age of 12. Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2022 When the exhibition finishes at the end of August, the objects will travel to Ouidah, once a slave port, where authorities are building a new slavery museum. Elian Peltier, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Aug. 2022 Verb
The first wave of refugees was from the Darfur region of Sudan, followed by Eritreans escaping brutal military dictatorship and forced conscription that has been compared to slave labor. Sara Miller Llana, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Jan. 2022 In other words, the founding fathers were well aware of the economic advantage to slave owners of limiting the Atlantic slave trade. New York Times, 23 Dec. 2021 Change your scenery and let someone else slave over the stove. Heidi Mitchell, WSJ, 19 Oct. 2021 Another school in Utah — Centennial Middle School in Provo — randomly assigned students to be slaves and slave masters for a project about the Civil War. Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Dec. 2021 Born to slave parents in 1838 in Arkansas, Bass Reeves was a member of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Okla Jones, Essence, 28 Oct. 2021 Another school in Utah — Centennial Middle School in Provo — came under fire in the spring for randomly assigning students to be slaves and slave masters for a project about the Civil War. Courtney Tanner, The Salt Lake Tribune, 19 Aug. 2021 Sampson presents a comprehensive view of the obstacles the young poet faced: illness, devastating personal losses, fluctuating family fortunes (which were tied to slave labor in Jamaica), and rigid cultural and social norms. Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Sep. 2021 Historians have noted that this harkens back to the Fugitive Slave laws of the 19th century, which offered cash incentives to white Americans to turn in their Black neighbors to slave catchers. Jenny Singer, Glamour, 9 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English sclave, from Anglo-French or Medieval Latin; Anglo-French esclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus, from Sclavus Slav; from the frequent enslavement of Slavs in central Europe during the early Middle Ages
First Known Use
Noun
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1602, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2
Adjective
1576, in the meaning defined at sense 1b
Phrases Containing slave
Kids Definition
slave 1 of 2
noun
ˈslāv
1
: a person who is owned by another person
2
: a person who is strongly influenced and controlled by something
a slave to fashion
3
: drudge
slave
2 of 2verb
slaved; slaving
: to work very hard, for long hours, or under difficult conditions
… I could only see myself slaving … in the tobacco fields. Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped
Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped Geographical Definition
Slave
geographical name
ˈslāv
river 258 miles (415 kilometers) long in Canada flowing from the western end of Lake Athabasca north into Great Slave Lake
slaved
verb
as in labored
to devote serious and sustained effort slaving over a hot stove Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- labored
- struggled
- worked
- wrought
- toiled
- tried
- sweated
- plowed
- hustled
- drudged
- grubbed
- sweat
- tugged
- strived
- travailed
- plugged
- endeavored
- humped
- fagged
- strove
- slogged
- plodded
- sweat blood
- banged away
- strained
- moiled
- sweated blood
- dug (away)
- beavered (away)
- attacked
- pitched in
- exerted
- pegged (away)
- drove
- exercised
- overworked
- knuckled down
- dug in
- scratched
- essayed
- eked out
- overexerted
- trudged
- hammered (away)
- scrabbled
- waded
- buckled (down)
- applied (oneself)
- put out
- ground (out)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- broke
- slackened
- idled
- chilled
- eased (up)
- loafed
- lounged
- dallied
- lazed
- shirked
- rested
- played
- hung (around or out)
- hung
- let up
- slacked (off)
- basked
- hacked (around)
- hanged (around or out)
- lolled
- unwound
- relaxed
- reposed
- bummed
- hanged
- trifled
- dillydallied
- goofed (off)
- dabbled
- goldbricked
- footled
- doodled
- vegged out
- puttered (around)
- fooled around
- pottered (around)
- hung about
- monkeyed (around)
- fribbled
- goofed (around)
- messed around
