slur
Definitions
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WordNet 3.6
- v slur become vague or indistinct "The distinction between the two theories blurred"
- v slur utter indistinctly
- v slur speak disparagingly of; e.g., make a racial slur "your comments are slurring your co-workers"
- v slur play smoothly or legato "the pianist slurred the most beautiful passage in the sonata"
- n slur a blemish made by dirt "he had a smudge on his cheek"
- n slur a disparaging remark "in the 19th century any reference to female sexuality was considered a vile aspersion","it is difficult for a woman to understand a man's sensitivity to any slur on his virility"
- n slur (music) a curved line spanning notes that are to be played legato
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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- Slur A mark or stain; hence, a slight reproach or disgrace; a stigma; a reproachful intimation; an innuendo. "Gaining to his name a lasting slur ."
- Slur (Mus) A mark, thus [⌢ or ⌣], 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.
- Slur A trick played upon a person; an imposition.
- Slur In knitting machines, a contrivance for depressing the sinkers successively by passing over them.
- Slur (Print) To blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle.
- Slur To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick. "To slur men of what they fought for."
- Slur To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice. "With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes."
- Slur To disparage; to traduce.
- Slur To pronounce indistinctly; as, to slur syllables; to slur one's words.
- Slur (Mus) To sing or perform in a smooth, gliding style; to connect smoothly in performing, as several notes or tones.
- Slur To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
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- slur To smear; soil by smearing with something; sully; contaminate; pollute; tarnish: often with over.
- slur To disparage by insinuation or innuendo; depreciate; calumniate; traduce; asperse; speak slightingly of.
- slur To pass lightly (over or through); treat lightly or slightingly; make little of: commonly with over.
- slur To cheat, originally by slipping or sliding a die in a particular way: an old gambling term; hence, to trick or cheat in general.
- slur To do (anything) in a careless manner; render obscure or indistinct by running together, as words in speaking.
- slur In music, to sing (two or more tones) to a single syllable, or perform in a legato manner. See slur.
- slur In printing, to blur or double, as an impression from type; mackle.
- slur To slide; be moved or dragged along in a shuffling, negligent way.
- slur To practise cheating by slipping a die out of the box so as not to let it turn; hence, to cheat in any way.
- slur In music, to apply a slur to two or more notes.
- n slur A mark or stain; a smear; hence, figuratively, a slight occasion of reproach.
- n slur A disparaging or slighting remark; an insinuation; an innuendo: as, he could never speak of him without a slur.
- n slur A trick; a cheat. See slur, intransitive verb, 2.
- n slur In vocal music, the combination of two or more tones of the music sung to a single syllable. The term originally signified simply a legato effect, and is still sometimes so used in connection with instrumental music.
- n slur In musical notation, a curved mark connecting two or more notes that are to be performed to a single syllable, or without break. A slur is distinguished from a tie in that it always connects notes on different degrees. It resembles the legato- and phrase-marks, but is properly confined to much fewer notes.
- n slur A slide or glide.
- n slur In printing, a blurred or doubled impression caused by a shake or uneven motion in the sheet.
- n slur In a knitting-machine, mechanism which travels on a bar called the slur-bar, and depresses the jack-sinkers in succession, sinking a loop of thread between every pair of needles.
- n slur Mud; especially, thin, washy mud.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
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- v.t Slur slur to soil; to contaminate: to disgrace: to pass over lightly: to conceal:
- v.i Slur (print.) to slip in making the impression, causing the printing to be blurred:—pr.p. slur′ring; pa.t. and pa.p. slurred
- n Slur a stain: slight reproach or disparagement:
- v.t Slur slur (mus.) to sing or play in a gliding manner
- n Slur (mus.) a mark showing that notes are to be sung to the same syllable
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Quotations
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“Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on.”
Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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
Usage
In literature:
Their mother would not wish a slur to rest upon them.
"Studies in love and in terror" by Marie Belloc Lowndes
You've thrown a slur upon her which people will never forget.
"The Hero" by William Somerset Maugham
Who among you will fight with me, casting slur upon my honour?
"The Wagnerian Romances" by Gertrude Hall
Red Hoss chose to ignore the slur.
"Sundry Accounts" by Irvin S. Cobb
The poetry of the Caroline age was, therefore, a little slurred, and this mishap of falling between two schools has constantly recurred to it.
"A History of English Literature" by George Saintsbury
In the trial of the king adverse points are slurred over, as if a historian could hold a brief.
"Lectures on the French Revolution" by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton
Nor did Hal, by any means, miss the intended slur.
"Uncle Sam's Boys as Sergeants" by H. Irving Hancock
The one difficulty she was, indeed, obliged to slur over; but even that was not altogether omitted in her scheme.
"Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite" by Anthony Trollope
To this slur Chigi retorted hotly that Riario's palace would not be able to compare with his own stables.
"Romance of Roman Villas" by Elizabeth W. (Elizbeth Williams) Champney
Gregory smiled at her slurring reference to Hawkins' two friends.
"El Diablo" by Brayton Norton
On Lord Holland no such slur could be thrown.
"Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3)" by Thomas Babington Macaulay
The preacher must have slurred that, and got on quickly to the wings of the dove.
"Highways and Byways in Surrey" by Eric Parker
A slur on all things English?
"A Man of Two Countries" by Alice Harriman
In the quieter times which followed this slur upon them was removed, and the House of Lords was again filled.
"A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3)" by Samuel Rawson Gardiner
It was ever to her a vulgar slur on her beloved pipe.
"The Battle with the Slum" by Jacob A. Riis
They dressed in furs and spoke a slurred and broken language, at least Naxa did.
"Deathworld" by Harry Harrison
By this time his temper had cooled, yet there lingered in his heart the stabbing hurt brought there by Molly's slurs.
"Rose O'Paradise" by Grace Miller White
He heard a few slurred words in the guttural speech of the Tartars.
"The Saracen: Land of the Infidel" by Robert Shea
The face of the American flushed at the slur, but he held himself in hand.
"Up the Forked River" by Edward Sylvester Ellis
Hitherto Meg's experience had been that it was a thing to be slurred over, like a deformity.
"Jan and Her Job" by L. Allen Harker
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In poetry:
Think on the shame of dreams for deeds,
The scandal of unnatural strife,
The slur upon immortal needs,
The treason done to life:
The scandal of unnatural strife,
The slur upon immortal needs,
The treason done to life:
"Some Starlit Garden Grey With Dew" by William Ernest Henley
Who knows what round the corner waits
To smite? If shipwreck, snare, or slur
Shall leave me with a head to lift,
Worthy of him that spoke with her.
To smite? If shipwreck, snare, or slur
Shall leave me with a head to lift,
Worthy of him that spoke with her.
"Vanity" by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
We know his people great and strong;
On such as these we cast no slur;
Our wonder is that they so long
Suffer ungalled his bit and spur.
'Tis with no heart of joy that we
Arise to smite them on the sea.
On such as these we cast no slur;
Our wonder is that they so long
Suffer ungalled his bit and spur.
'Tis with no heart of joy that we
Arise to smite them on the sea.
"The Man Forsworn " by William Watson
I saw the slur intended--why I fancied I could see
The old man shoot the insult like a poison dart at me;
And in that heat of passion I swore an inward oath
That if Annie pleased her father she could never please us both.
The old man shoot the insult like a poison dart at me;
And in that heat of passion I swore an inward oath
That if Annie pleased her father she could never please us both.
"George Mullen's Confession" by James Whitcomb Riley
So the other soldiers laughed, for their spirits felt gay,
And they applauded his jokes, and let him have his own way,
Because he could command as desperate a gang of men as any in the world,
So many a joke and slur at the soldiers he hurled.
And they applauded his jokes, and let him have his own way,
Because he could command as desperate a gang of men as any in the world,
So many a joke and slur at the soldiers he hurled.
"Jack o' the Cudgel" by William Topaz McGonagall
In news:
His speech is still slightly slurred.
A jury awarded the sum to five black women after testimony about White's slurs and veiled threats.
Racial slurs came before Waikiki shooting.
When about 400 people shout racial slurs and a gathering has to be broken up by police, it's more than shameful behavior.
LaLa says Dallas fans yelled racial slurs at her.
A statement issued today by LaLa Vazquez says the fiancee of Carmelo Anthony was subject to racial slurs by some Dallas Mavericks fans during Game 4 Monday night in Dallas.
MLB investigates homophobic slur on Derek Holland's Twitter account .
View full size Justin Schwind accused in lawsuit of using racial slur.
Detroit Tigers star Delmon Young pleads guilty to aggravated harassment in NYC slur case.
Knicks Star Stoudemire Uses Anti-Gay Slur On Twitter.
Racist or bigoted slurs 2.
Two gay conservative leaders have blasted Texas governor Rick Perry's antigay presidential campaign ad while also using a gay slur to out Perry strategist Tony Fabrizio.
David Arquette Laughed and Slurred a Lot.
Dior Designer Fired Over Alleged Anti-Semitic Slurs.
Former MU student sentenced to probation , community service in racial slur incident.
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In science:
While dealing with functions on X , we may slur over the difference between the two measures.
A theorem of Roe and Strichartz for Riemannian symmetric spaces of noncompact type
Note that we will occasionally slur over distinctions and refer to the various equivalence classes of H \Γ defined by a ·p relation as the cusps of H .
Distribution of approximants and geodesic flows
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