Slew or slough?
slew is a noun meaning “The act, or process of slewing”; slough is a noun meaning “The skin shed by a snake or other reptile”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) slew is about 1.9 times as common as slough.
What is the difference between slew and slough?
| slew | slough | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | The act, or process of slewing A device used for slewing To rotate or turn something about its axis | The skin shed by a snake or other reptile Dead skin on a sore or ulcer To shed skin or outer layers |
| Example | The single line was slewed onto the disused up formation to make way for the future redoubling | That is the slough of a rattler; we must be careful |
| Forms | slews | sloughs |
| Pronunciation | /sl(j)uː/ /slɪu̯/ /sluː/ | /slʌf/ /slɐf/ /slʊf/ |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words | 1.1 times per million words |
Sources: slew and slough in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of slew and slough
slew
- 1
The act, or process of slewing
- 2
To rotate or turn something about its axis
- 3
Alternative spelling of slough (“a marshy or swampy place”) (reflecting the alternative pronunciation)
- 4
A large amount
She has a slew of papers and notebooks strewn all over her desk
- 5
A device used for slewing
- 6
To veer a vehicle
- 7
A crowd or large number of people
- 8
A change of position
slough
- 1
The skin shed by a snake or other reptile
That is the slough of a rattler; we must be careful
- 2
To shed skin or outer layers
This skin is being sloughed
- 3
A marshy or muddy area
- 4
Dead skin on a sore or ulcer
This is the slough that came off of his skin after the burn
- 5
To slide off or flake off, as an outer layer, such as skin, might do
A week after he was burned, a layer of skin on his arm sloughed off
- 6
A type of swamp or shallow lake system, typically formed as or by the backwater of a larger waterway, similar to a bayou with trees
We paddled under a canopy of trees through the slough
- 7
To discard
East sloughed a heart
- 8
USA secondary channel of a river delta, usually flushed by the tide
The Sacramento River Delta contains dozens of sloughs that are often used for water-skiing and fishing
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, slew or slough?
slew appears 2.2 times per million words; slough 1.1 times per million words.
slew 2.2 times per million wordsslough 1.1 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search slew vs slough?
“slew vs slough” is searched about 140 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“slough vs slew”, “slew or slough”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.