slur

I. noun Etymology: obsolete English dialect slur thin mud, from Middle English sloor; akin to Middle High German slier mud Date: 1609 1. a. an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo ; aspersion b. a shaming or degrading effect ; stain, stigma 2. a blurred spot in printed matter ; smudge II. verb (slurred; slurring) Date: 1660 transitive verb 1. to cast aspersions on ; disparage <

slurred his reputation

> 2. to make indistinct ; obscure intransitive verb to slip so as to cause a slur — used of a sheet being printed III. verb (slurred; slurring) Etymology: probably from Low German slurrn to shuffle; akin to Middle English sloor mud Date: 1660 transitive verb 1. a. to slide or slip over without due mention, consideration, or emphasis <

slurred over certain facts

> b. to perform hurriedly ; skimp <

let him not slur his lesson — R. W. Emerson

> 2. to perform (successive tones of different pitch) in a smooth or connected manner 3. a. to reduce, make a substitution for, or omit (sounds that would normally occur in an utterance) b. to utter with such reduction, substitution, or omission of sounds <

his speech was slurred

> intransitive verb 1. dialect chiefly England slip, slide 2. drag, shuffle IV. noun Date: circa 1801 1. a. a curved line connecting notes to be sung to the same syllable or performed without a break b. the combination of two or more slurred tones 2. a slurring manner of speech