slough

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 3, 2022 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>slough</strong> &#149; \SLUFF\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><em>Slough</em> means "to cast something off or to become shed or cast off." It is often used in the phrase <em>slough off</em> meaning "to get rid of something objectionable or disadvantageous."</p> <p>// The snake <em>sloughs</em> its skin several times a year.</p> <p>// The company needed to <em>slough off</em> some of its old practices that were keeping it from being as competitive as possible.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slough#h4">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Use the scrub once or twice a week to <em>slough off</em> dead skin cells for smoother skin." — Lindsay Tigar, <em>The Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times</em>, 23 Jan. 2022</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>There are two verbs spelled <em>slough</em> in English, as well as two nouns, and both sets have different pronunciations. The <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slough#h1">first noun</a>, referring to a swamp or a discouraged state of mind, is pronounced to rhyme with either <em>blue</em> or <em>cow</em>. Its <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slough#h2">related verb</a>, which can mean "to plod through mud," has the same pronunciation. The <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slough#h3">second noun</a>, pronounced to rhyme with <em>cuff</em>, refers to the shed skin of a snake (as well as anything else that has been cast off). Its <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slough#h4">related verb</a> describes the action of shedding or eliminating something, just like a snake sheds its skin. This <em>slough</em> comes from Middle English <em>slughe</em> and is related to <em>slūch</em>, a Middle High Ger