slough
slough — 名詞
- sloughsingular
- sloughsplural
1. a long-lasting feeling of great unhappiness and hopelessness, as if you are stuc
絕望；憂鬱
長期沮喪絕望狀態
a long-lasting feeling of great unhappiness and hopelessness, as if you are stuck in a dark place you cannot escape from
After losing his job, David fell into a deep slough of despair that lasted for months.
David 失業後陷入深深的絕望，持續了數月之久。
collocation: slough of despair
Zola described the slough of hopelessness she experienced after her grandmother passed away.
Zola 描述祖母過世後，她所經歷的那種無助的憂鬱。
pattern: slough of [emotion]
After his wife left, the old fisherman sank into a slough of misery he could not escape.
妻子離開後，那位老漁夫陷入了無法擺脫的憂鬱。
Shirin felt trapped in a slough of sadness that nothing seemed able to lift.
Shirin 覺得自己困在一種無法掙脫的憂傷中。
A therapist helped the young musician climb out of the slough of grief after the accident.
車禍過後，一位治療師幫助那位年輕音樂家走出了憂鬱的困境。
- despair
stronger and more urgent; slough suggests a longer, heavier state
- melancholy
more poetic and less severe; slough implies being stuck
- hopelessness
focuses on the loss of hope; slough includes the weight of sadness too
文法句型
a slough of [emotion]
用法筆記
Often used in the phrase 'a slough of despair' or 'a slough of despond'. The phrase 'Slough of Despond' originates from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, where it is a swamp that represents depression. Pronounced /slʌf/ — rhyming with 'rough' and 'tough'.
常見錯誤
2. a low, muddy area of ground that stays wet for most of the year, often covered w
泥沼；沼澤
低窪濕軟的泥濘地
a low, muddy area of ground that stays wet for most of the year, often covered with shallow water and soft mud, similar to a marsh or a swamp
The hikers walked carefully around the slough to avoid sinking into the soft mud.
健行者小心翼翼地繞過泥沼，以免陷入軟泥中。
Herons and egrets build their nests among the reeds in the coastal slough.
蒼鷺和白鷺在海濱沼澤的蘆葦叢中築巢。
domain: geography / wildlife habitat
After three days of heavy rain the field turned into a muddy slough that was impossible to cross.
連續三天下大雨後，田野變成了一片無法通行的泥沼。
Conservation workers built a wooden walkway across the slough so visitors could watch birds without harming the wetland.
保育人員在沼澤上搭建了一條木棧道，讓遊客可以觀鳥而不破壞濕地。
A thick layer of rotting leaves covered the dark water of the forest slough.
一層厚厚的腐葉覆蓋在森林沼澤幽暗的水面上。
- dry land
firm, solid ground rather than wet mud
用法筆記
Pronounced /slaʊ/ (UK) or /sluː/ (US) — rhymes with 'cow' (UK) or 'blue' (US). Do not pronounce like the sadness sense (/slʌf/). In American English, the word often refers to a side channel or inlet of a river in the southern wetlands.
常見錯誤
3. a large town in Berkshire, southern England, about thirty kilometres west of cen
斯勞
英格蘭伯克郡城鎮
a large town in Berkshire, southern England, about thirty kilometres west of central London, where many people live and travel to London each day for work
The Noor family moved to Slough last year after Mrs. Noor found work at the Mars chocolate factory there.
Noor 一家去年搬到斯勞，因為 Noor 太太在當地的 Mars 巧克力工廠找到工作。
proper noun: always capitalised
Slough is a busy commuter town with direct trains to London Paddington station.
斯勞是個繁忙的通勤城鎮，有直達倫敦帕丁頓站的火車。
Fujitsu and O2 have built large offices in Slough's business park near the M4 motorway.
Fujitsu 和 O2 在斯勞 M4 高速公路旁的商業園區設立了大型辦公室。
The early morning train from Slough to London Paddington takes only eighteen minutes.
從斯勞開往倫敦帕丁頓的早班火車只需十八分鐘。
文法句型
always capitalised as Slough
用法筆記
This is a proper noun and is always written with a capital letter. Pronounced /slaʊ/ — like the wetland sense, not like the sadness sense.
常見錯誤
❌ 'She was stuck in a slough of sadness in Slough.' — do not confuse the place name (pronounced /slaʊ/) with the depression sense (pronounced /slʌf/).
slough — 動詞
- sloughpresent simple I / you / we / they
- sloughs3rd person singular
- sloughing-ing form
- sloughedpast simple
1. when a reptile, amphibian, or other creature naturally removes its old outer lay
蛻皮；脫落
動物自然脫去外層皮膚
when a reptile, amphibian, or other creature naturally removes its old outer layer of skin so that fresh new skin can appear underneath
The snake sloughed its old skin in one long, see-through piece.
那條蛇一整片蛻下舊皮，薄得透明。
transitive use: slough + old skin
Lizards slough their skin several times a year as they grow bigger.
蜥蜴一年會蛻好幾次皮，因為牠們會越長越大。
The iguana sloughed off the dry, flaky patches of skin from its back legs during the warm summer months.
那隻鬣蜥在溫暖的夏季從後腿蛻下乾燥的鱗片。
After the frog sloughed its outer layer, its skin looked bright green and very moist.
青蛙蛻掉外層皮膚後，皮膚看起來翠綠潮溼。
The biologist watched the python slough its skin inside the warm, humid enclosure at the zoo.
那位生物學家在動物園溫暖潮溼的飼養箱裡看著蟒蛇蛻皮。
文法句型
slough + something (transitive)
slough + off (phrasal)
用法筆記
Used mainly in scientific or formal writing about animals. For humans, the everyday word is 'shed' (e.g. 'shed dead skin cells'), not 'slough'. The phrasal verb 'slough off' can also be used figuratively to mean 'get rid of something unwanted'.