SLAVE Definition & Meaning

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slave

[ sleyv ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another and forced to provide unpaid labor.
a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person:
She was a slave to her own ambition.
a drudge:
a housekeeping slave.
a slave ant.
Photography. a subsidiary flash lamp actuated through its photoelectric cell when the principal flash lamp is discharged.
Machinery, Computers. a device or process under control of or repeating the actions of a similar device or process. Compare master ( def 21 ).

verb (used without object)

slaved, slaving.

to work like a slave; drudge.
Synonyms: , , ,
to engage in the slave trade; procure, transport, or sell slaves.

verb (used with object)

slaved, slaving.

Machinery, Computers. to connect (a device) to a master as its slave.
Archaic. to enslave.

slave

/ ��ɪ�� /

noun

a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action or right to property
a person who is forced to work for another against his will
a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence
a slave to television
a person who works in harsh conditions for low pay
1. a device that is controlled by or that duplicates the action of another similar device (the master device)
2. ( as modifier )
  slave cylinder

verb

introften foll byaway to work like a slave
tr an archaic word for enslave

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Other 51�Թ� Forms

��l�� adjective
��l�� adjective
��·�� adjective
��i·�� noun

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of slave¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English sclave (also slave ), from Old French escla(i)ve, and Medieval Latin ��屹�ܲ� (masculine), ��屹�� (feminine) “slave,” special use of ��屹�ܲ� “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

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of slave¹

C13: via Old French from Medieval Latin ��屹�ܲ� a Slav, one held in bondage (from the fact that the Slavonic races were frequently conquered in the Middle Ages), from Late Greek Sklabos a Slav

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

And I think of the 1850s, when slave owners pretty much controlled even the federal government, and then suddenly they didn't.

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The Confederacy convinced millions of poor white men — most of whom never owned slaves — that they had to fight and die for the interests of the plantation elite.

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Azuka said she was "completely unaware" of his links to slavery, despite him being "a founding father of a slave colony".

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A United Nations judge has been convicted of forcing a young woman to work as a slave.

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The suit alleged that he asked her to be his “sex slave” and threatened punishment and retaliation if Eckhart did not comply with his sexual demands.

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