slave
Americannoun
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a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another and forced to provide unpaid labor.
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a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person.
She was a slave to her own ambition.
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a drudge.
a housekeeping slave.
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a slave ant.
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Photography. a subsidiary flash lamp actuated through its photoelectric cell when the principal flash lamp is discharged.
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Machinery, Computers. a device or process under control of or repeating the actions of a similar device or process.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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Machinery, Computers. to connect (a device) to a master as its slave.
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Archaic. to enslave.
noun
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a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action or right to property
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a person who is forced to work for another against his will
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a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence
a slave to television
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a person who works in harsh conditions for low pay
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a device that is controlled by or that duplicates the action of another similar device (the master device)
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( as modifier )
slave cylinder
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verb
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to work like a slave
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(tr) an archaic word for enslave
Other Word Forms
- proslave adjective
- semislave noun
- slaveless adjective
- slavelike adjective
Etymology
Origin of slave
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sclave (also slave ), from Old French escla(i)ve, and Medieval Latin sclāvus (masculine), sclāva (feminine) “slave,” special use of Sclāvus “Slavic, a Slav, slave” (Latin does not tolerate the consonant cluster sl- and employs the cluster scl- instead); so called because Slavs in Central Europe and the Balkans were commonly enslaved in the early Middle Ages; Slav
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
City hall, the slave market, and town pillory were all there, and the wharf on the East River “made it a rendezvous for pirates,” writes Sobol.
From Barron's
City hall, the slave market, and town pillory were all there, and the wharf on the East River “made it a rendezvous for pirates,” writes Sobol.
From Barron's
"It's impossible to turn this page of our history. Belarusians will never think like slaves, like we were before 2020. It was really a revolution of the mind."
From Barron's
For the abolitionists, Congress prohibited slavery in the new state of California and the slave trade was banned in the capital District of Columbia.
From Literature
Meanwhile, a runaway slave shows up out back, pursued by hounds, having heard that the Van Lew house is the place to run for help.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
