slang

12 results for: slang

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

1 Audio Help [slang]

–noun

1.	very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than ordinary language, as Hit the road.

2.	(in English and some other languages) speech and writing characterized by the use of vulgar and socially taboo vocabulary and idiomatic expressions.

3.	the jargon of a particular class, profession, etc.

4.	the special vocabulary of thieves, vagabonds, etc.; argot.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to use slang or abusive language.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to assail with abusive language.

Origin:
1750–60; orig. uncert.

Synonyms:
4. cant.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

slang

2 Audio Help [slang]

–verb Nonstandard.

pt. of sling ¹ .

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

slang Audio Help (slāng)

A kind of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically of short-lived coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in place of standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other effect.
Language peculiar to a group; argot or jargon: thieves' slang.

v. slanged, slang·ing, slangs

v. intr.

To use slang.
To use angry and abusive language: persuaded the parties to quit slanging and come to the bargaining table.

v. tr.
To attack with abusive language; vituperate.

[Origin unknown.]
slang'i·ly adv., slang'i·ness n., slang'y adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
slang

1756, "special vocabulary of tramps or thieves," later "jargon of a particular profession" (1801), of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Scandinavian source, cf. Norw. slengenamn "nickname," slengja kjeften "to abuse with words," lit. "to sling the jaw," related to O.N. slyngva "to sling." But OED, while admitting "some approximation in sense," discounts this connection based on "date and early associations." Sense of "very informal language characterized by vividness and novelty" first recorded 1818. A word that ought to have survived is slangwhanger (1807, Amer.Eng.) "noisy or abusive talker or writer."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

slang
noun
1.	informal language consisting of words and expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal occasions; often vituperative or vulgar; "their speech was full of slang expressions"
2.	a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo"
verb
1.	use slang or vulgar language
2.	fool or hoax; "The immigrant was duped because he trusted everyone"; "You can't fool me!"
3.	abuse with coarse language

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
slang

Expressions that do not belong to standard written English. For example, “flipping out” is slang for “losing one's mind” or “losing one's temper.” Slang expressions are usually inappropriate in formal speech or writing. (See jargon.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

SLANG
1. R.A. Sibley. CACM 4(1):75-84 (Jan 1961).
2. Set LANGuage. Jastrzebowski, ca 1990. C extension with set-theoretic data types and garbage collection. "The SLANG Programming Language Reference Manual, Version 3.3", W. Jastrzebowski , 1990.
3. Structured LANGuage. Michael Kessler, IBM. A language based on structured programming macros for IBM 370 assembly language. "Project RMAG: SLANG (Structured Language) Compiler", R.A. Magnuson, NIH-DCRT-DMB-SSS-UG105, NIH, DHEW, Bethesda, MD 20205 (1980).
4. "SLANG: A Problem Solving Language for Continuous-Model Simulation and Optimisation", J.M. Thames, Proc 24th ACM Natl Conf 1969.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Slang

Slang\, imp. of Sling. Slung. [Archaic]

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Slang

Slang\, n. Any long, narrow piece of land; a promontory. [Local, Eng.] --Holland.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Slang

Slang\, n. [Cf. Sling.] A fetter worn on the leg by a convict. [Eng.]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Slang

Slang\, n. [Said to be of Gypsy origin; but probably from Scand., and akin to E. sling; cf. Norw. sleng a slinging, an invention, device, slengja to sling, to cast, slengja kjeften (literally, to sling the jaw) to use abusive language, to use slang, slenjeord (ord = word) an insulting word, a new word that has no just reason for being.] Low, vulgar, unauthorized language; a popular but unauthorized word, phrase, or mode of expression; also, the jargon of some particular calling or class in society; low popular cant; as, the slang of the theater, of college, of sailors, etc.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Slang

Slang\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slanged; p. pr. & vb. n. Slanging.] To address with slang or ribaldry; to insult with vulgar language. [Colloq.]

Every gentleman abused by a cabman or slanged by a bargee was bound there and then to take off his coat and challenge him to fisticuffs. --London Spectator.

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