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Definition of "slave" []

  • One bound in servitude as the property of a person or household. (noun)
  • One who is abjectly subservient to a specified person or influence: "I was still the slave of education and prejudice” ( Edward Gibbon). (noun)
  • One who works extremely hard. (noun)
  • A machine or component controlled by another machine or component. (noun)
  • To work very hard or doggedly; toil. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "slave" in a sentence
  • "Neither a slave nor a free colored person can be a witness against any _white_, or free person, in a court of justice, however atrocious may have been the crimes they have seen him commit, if such testimony would be for the benefit of a _slave_; but they may give testimony"
  • "It was said that national crimes can only be, and frequently are, punished in this world by _national punishments_, and that the continuance of the slave trade, and thus giving it a national character, sanction, and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of him who is equally the Lord of all, and who views with equal eye the poor _African slave_ and his _American master!"
  • ""He (the slave) only knows his master as lawgiver and executioner, and the _sole object of punishment_ held up to his view, is to make him _a more obedient and profitable slave_.""