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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

sludge.

Solids separated from suspension in a liquid.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/slʌd͡ʒ/
  1. Solids separated from suspension in a liquid.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A residual semi-solid material left from industrial, water treatment, or wastewater treatment processes.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A sediment of accumulated minerals in a steam boiler.

    countable · uncountable
  4. A mass of small pieces of ice on the surface of a water body.

    countable · uncountable
  5. Ellipsis of sludge metal.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis · uncountable
  6. Institutional policies that introduce tedium and inefficiency in processes.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English slugge, sluche (“mud, mire”), probably an alteration of Middle English sliche, slicche ("mud, slush, tar"; whence Modern English slitch), from Old English *sliċ, from Proto-West Germanic *sliki, *slīk, from Proto-Germanic *slikiz, *slīką (“mud, slush”). Cognate with Dutch slijk, German Schlick. Compare also slush.

verb/slʌd͡ʒ/
  1. To slump or slouch.

    informal · intransitive
  2. To slop or drip slowly.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English slugge, sluche (“mud, mire”), probably an alteration of Middle English sliche, slicche ("mud, slush, tar"; whence Modern English slitch), from Old English *sliċ, from Proto-West Germanic *sliki, *slīk, from Proto-Germanic *slikiz, *slīką (“mud, slush”). Cognate with Dutch slijk, German Schlick. Compare also slush.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.