SLOUGHING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sloughing mean? 

• SLOUGHING (noun)
  The noun SLOUGHING has 1 sense:

1. the process whereby something is shed

  Familiarity information: SLOUGHING used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SLOUGHING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The process whereby something is shed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

shedding; sloughing

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

biological process; organic process (a process occurring in living organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sloughing"):

abscission (shedding of flowers and leaves and fruit following formation of scar tissue in a plant)

ecdysis; molt; molting; moult; moulting (periodic shedding of the cuticle in arthropods or the outer skin in reptiles)

Derivation:

slough (cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers)

 Context examples 

The Menstrual Cycle involves regularly recurring hormonal changes and physiologic endometrial changes during the reproductive period in human females, and some primates, and culminates in partial sloughing of the endometrium (menstruation) in the absence of fertilization.

(Menstrual cycle, NCI Thesaurus)