SLOUCH

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does slouch mean? 

• SLOUCH (noun)
  The noun SLOUCH has 2 senses:

1. an incompetent person; usually used in negative constructions

2. a stooping carriage in standing and walking

  Familiarity information: SLOUCH used as a noun is rare.

• SLOUCH (verb)
  The verb SLOUCH has 2 senses:

1. assume a drooping posture or carriage

2. walk slovenly

  Familiarity information: SLOUCH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SLOUCH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An incompetent person; usually used in negative constructions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he's no slouch when it comes to baseball

Hypernyms ("slouch" is a kind of...):

incompetent; incompetent person (someone who is not competent to take effective action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A stooping carriage in standing and walking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("slouch" is a kind of...):

bearing; carriage; posture (characteristic way of bearing one's body)

Derivation:

slouch (walk slovenly)

slouch (assume a drooping posture or carriage)

slouchy (lacking stiffness in form or posture)

• SLOUCH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they slouch    ... he / she / it slouches   
Past simple: slouched   
Past participle: slouched   
-ing form: slouching   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Assume a drooping posture or carriage

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

slouch; slump

Hypernyms (to "slouch" is one way to...):

droop; flag; sag; swag (droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

The children slouch in the rocking chair
There slouch some children in the rocking chair

Derivation:

slouch (a stooping carriage in standing and walking)

sloucher (a person who slouches; someone with a drooping carriage)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Walk slovenly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "slouch" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children slouch to the playground

Derivation:

slouch (a stooping carriage in standing and walking)

 Context examples 

’E slouched away, sir, an’ I saw the last of ’im.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The night should have turned more wet since I came in, for he had a large sou'wester hat on, slouched over his face.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He slouched out of the room, and half an hour afterwards left the house, leaving my father in a state of pitiable nervousness.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“He’s no slouch at dog-breakin’, that’s wot I say,” one of the men on the wall cried enthusiastically.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

And often, at such times, he would abruptly see slouch in among the company a young hoodlum in square-cut coat and under a stiff-rim Stetson hat.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They saw him slouch for'ard after breakfast, and, like a mendicant, with outstretched palm, accost a sailor.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A moment was allowed for the first thrill to subside, then Hugo, the villain, stalked in with a clanking sword at his side, a slouching hat, black beard, mysterious cloak, and the boots.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

As he came slouching across the lawn I heard Mr. Trevor make a sort of hiccoughing noise in his throat, and jumping out of his chair, he ran into the house.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Did SHE make 'em, now?” said Mr. Barkis, always leaning forward, in his slouching way, on the footboard of the cart with an arm on each knee.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)