Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Slur

Slur

(slûr)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Slurred
(slûrd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Slurring
(slûr′rĭng)
.]
[Cf. OE.
sloor
mud, clay, Icel.
slōra
,
sloðra
, to trail or drag one’s self along, D.
sleuren
,
sloren
, to train, to drag, to do negligently and slovenly, D.
sloor
,
sloerie
, a sluttish girl.]
1.
To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.
Cudworth.
2.
To disparage; to traduce.
Tennyson.
3.
To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice.
With periods, points, and tropes, he
slurs
his crimes.
Dryden.
4.
To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick.
[R.]
To
slur
men of what they fought for.
Hudibras.
5.
To pronounce indistinctly;
as, to
slur
syllables; to
slur
one's words
.
6.
(Mus.)
To sing or perform in a smooth, gliding style; to connect smoothly in performing, as several notes or tones.
Busby.
7.
(Print.)
To blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle.

Slur

,
Noun.
1.
A mark or stain; hence, a slight reproach or disgrace; a stigma; a reproachful intimation; an innuendo.
“Gaining to his name a lasting slur.”
South.
2.
A trick played upon a person; an imposition.
[R.]
3.
(Mus.)
A mark, thus [[upslur] or [downslur]], connecting notes that are to be sung to the same syllable, or made in one continued breath of a wind instrument, or with one stroke of a bow; a tie; a sign of legato.
4.
In knitting machines, a contrivance for depressing the sinkers successively by passing over them.

Webster 1828 Edition


Slur

SLUR

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.
2.
To pass lightly; to conceal. With periods, points and tropes he slurs his crimes.
3.
To cheat; to trick. [Unusual.]
4.
In music, to sing or perform in a smooth gliding style.

SLUR

,
Noun.
1.
Properly, a black mark; hence, slight reproach or disgrace. Every violation of moral duty should be a slur to the reputation.
2.
In music, a mark connecting noest that are to be sung to the same syllable, or made in one continued breath of a wind instrument, or with one stoke of a stringed instrument.

Definition 2024


slur

slur

English

Noun

slur (plural slurs)

  1. An insult or slight.
    a racial slur
  2. (music) A set of notes that are played legato, without separate articulation.
  3. (music) The symbol indicating a legato passage, written as an arc over the slurred notes (not to be confused with a tie).
  4. (obsolete) A trick or deception.
  5. In knitting machines, a device for depressing the sinkers successively by passing over them.

Translations

Derived terms

Verb

slur (third-person singular simple present slurs, present participle slurring, simple past and past participle slurred)

  1. To insult or slight.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Tennyson to this entry?)
  2. To run together; to articulate poorly.
    to slur syllables; He slurs his speech when he is drunk.
    • 2014 April 21, Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:
      Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.
  3. (music) To play legato or without separate articulation; to connect (notes) smoothly.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Busby to this entry?)
  4. To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Cudworth to this entry?)
  5. To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice.
    • John Dryden (1631-1700)
      With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes.
  6. To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick.
  7. (printing, dated) To blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams