to slough off
1
9.0
- phrasal verb
- /slʌf ɔf/
- Specialized
:
desprenderse
- They renew every 24 days by forming new skin cells underneath while the old cells slough off to uncover the new ones.
- sloughed off skin
- sloughed off cells
- sloughing off the dead
The gut lining sloughs off, the tumor shrinks or even disappears from an MRI or an X-ray.
- The gut lining sloughs off, the tumor shrinks or even disappears from an MRI or an X-ray.
Examples
-
Quickly exfoliating can help slough off layers of dead skin for smoother skin.
-
When these cells are lost, it's sloughed off at some frequency in all of us.
-
And as he puts his hands on the ground, the skin of his arms just sloughs off like a glove.
-
Visible scales are retained for long periods and are sloughed off in clumps.
Academic text (2007) -
They're lining the surface of the gut and they are constantly being sloughed off the wall of the gut.
-
"Cells in the mouth slough off easily," she said, by way of explanation, apparently noting Gillian's quizzical expression.
Fiction book (2002) -
The gut lining sloughs off, the tumor shrinks or even disappears from an MRI or an X-ray.
-
As your old skin cells slough off, the new ones will appear healthier and more vibrant.
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During the healing process, the damaged tissue will slough off to make way for new growth.
Synonyms
9
3.9
To come away in strips because of age or damage
8
6.2
To come off in thin layers, like peeling bark
3
3.9
To come off a surface in small thin pieces
To shed an old outer layer of skin or feathers when an animal grows
How Detached
- Specialized
1
9.0
3
3.9
56
3.0
19
4.3
829
2.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
slough + off
The meaning is a literal composition of the parts: if a learner knows 'slough' in the sense 'to shed or cast off' and 'off' meaning removal, they can derive that something separates and falls away. Although 'slough' is low-frequency and orthographically/pronunciation-wise irregular (so many learners may not know that verb), the phrase itself is fully compositional when the constituent senses are known.
Etymology
Slough off first described tissue or dead skin that separates and falls away from a wound, like an old layer peeling off the body. That's why in medical use slough off means 'to fall away' or be removed from the living tissue.