slave
verb/sleɪv/
/sleɪv/
[intransitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they slave | /sleɪv/ /sleɪv/ |
| he / she / it slaves | /sleɪvz/ /sleɪvz/ |
| past simple slaved | /sleɪvd/ /sleɪvd/ |
| past participle slaved | /sleɪvd/ /sleɪvd/ |
| -ing form slaving | /ˈsleɪvɪŋ/ /ˈsleɪvɪŋ/ |
- slave (away) (at something) to work very hard
- I've been slaving away all day trying to get this work finished.
- I haven't got time to spend hours slaving over a hot stove (= doing a lot of cooking).
Word OriginMiddle English: shortening of Old French esclave, equivalent of medieval Latin sclava (feminine) ‘Slavonic (captive)’: the Slavonic peoples had been reduced to a servile state by conquest in the 9th cent.Want to learn more?
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