Slag

Pronunciation

• IPA: /slæɡ/
• Rhymes: -æɡ

Origin

From Swedish slagg, or Middle Low German slagge, whence German Schlacke; originally, the splinters struck off from the metal by hammering; compare slay.

Full definition of slag

Noun

1. Waste material from a coal mine.
• 2011, Vivienne Dockerty, A Woman Undefeated, %22slags%22+woman+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=EEPZMFVWtl&sig=WH7S9s_9FgRjt_hxIJ9m8Xg3j88&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KHhQULaZMca3iQfX9IDQBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20woman%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 54,After the big village, the scenery had returned to grass and woodland, but this had now given way to ugly mounds of discarded slag. Beyond the slag was a colliery with its machinery and smoking chimney, making the whole area look grim and austere.
2. Scum that forms on the surface of molten metal.
• 2006, Melisa W. Lai, Michele Burns Ewald, Chapter 95: Silver, Martin J. Wonsiewicz, Karen G. Edmonson, Peter J. Boyle (editors), Goldfrank′s Toxicologic Emergencies, 8th Edition, %22slags%22+woman+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=J6OJoVd74A&sig=lVvAHphPh5JPjukv23oxtEqYZaA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZpRRUKi1EOiUiAf6yIHACQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20woman%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 1358,In Asia Minor and on islands in the Aegean Sea, dumps of slag (scum formed by molten metal surface oxidation) demonstrate that silver was being separated from lead as early as 5000 BC.
• 2009, John Hoerr, Monongahela Dusk, %22slaggers%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=TSUGpW3Ylv&sig=cd5j3y2gkpiZpx832pFecUOB7O8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=e9tRULmcLoetiQeVroGQDg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slagger%22|%22slaggers%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 255,He leans out over the track and skims slag off the top of the boiling steel, risking what is called “catching a flyer,” which occurs when hot metal explodes out of the mold, spraying everyone in the vicinity.
3. Impurities formed and separated out when a metal is smelted from ore; vitrified cinders.
• 2006, w, Internal Combustion Chapter 2, Buried within the Mediterranean littoral are some seventy to ninety million tons of slag from ancient smelting, about a third of it concentrated in Iberia. This ceaseless industrial fueling caused the deforestation of an estimated fifty to seventy million acres of woodlands.
• 2008, Barbara S. Ottaway, Ben Roberts, The Emergence of Metalworking, Andrew Jones (editor), Prehistoric Europe: Theory and Practice, %22slags%22+woman+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=BbjQy83vOg&sig=CYMSs33CrFJKm5gP6QzMuyUTYrg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KHhQULaZMca3iQfX9IDQBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20woman%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 207,Consequently, mounds of large ‘cakes’ of slag are often found near the smelting sites of the Late Bronze Age, as for example at Ramsau in Austria (Doonan et al. 1996).
4. Hard aggregate remaining as a residue from blast furnaces, sometimes used as a surfacing material.
• 2006, Jan R. Prusinski, 44: Slag as a Cementitious Material, Joseph F. Lamond, James H. Pielert (editors), Significance of Tests and Properties of Concrete and Concrete-Making Materials, %22slags%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=SUmDMeXzBO&sig=9SlUmHyuyouJSDdEq-zWCbgUWKg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OFZPUIqFIeqziQeVpID4DQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 517,During blast furnace operations, the plant operator pays careful attention to the slag chemistry (both composition and variability) as slag behavior is a major consideration in ensuring the quality of hot metal (molten iron).
• 2010, Yuri N. Toulouevski, Ilyaz Y. Zinurov, Innovation in Electric Arc Furnaces, Springer, %22slags%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=oRNJW6nnJ0&sig=dck09F_eO7Wd8oH0EiEJtMl8Otc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jFlPUNH_FcTdigezrIGgCQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 16,All these properties are determined by slag composition and its temperature. In basic slags, foaming ability increases as SiO₂ concentration grows.
5. Scoria associated with a volcano.
6. (UK, pejorative, dated) A coward.
7. (UK, pejorative) A contemptible person, a scumbag.
• 1996, Sarah Kane, , Scene 8, 2001, Sarah Kane: Complete Plays, %22slags%22+woman+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=wrq-srPNMY&sig=rIIi0JcRzSBU6S40Lqz-pV4p7bE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KHhQULaZMca3iQfX9IDQBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20woman%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 100,Kill him. Kill the royal slag.
8. (UK, pejorative) A prostitute.
• 1984, Tristan Jones, Heart of Oak, 1997, paperback edition, %22slags%22+woman+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=HRGAeBkW-Y&sig=p-6qKPA15RncjpQ9tFDdGMSlw3Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=trZQUJXWOouhmQXb5oCACA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20woman%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 260,We never talked about that, of course; we talked about how we could find a woman in the Dilly, and if the Yanks had taken them all, how we could always resort to the peroxided older slags who hung out around the side doors to Waterloo station and did knee tremblers for the Yanks.
9. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang, pejorative) A woman (sometimes a man) who has loose morals relating to sex; a slut.
• 2002, Josephine Cox, The Woman Who Left, 2012, ebook, %22slags%22+woman+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=YAP-npnK8H&sig=66JcUDplBbe5ihDlMrGIofo4ZlU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=trZQUJXWOouhmQXb5oCACA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20woman%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false unnumbered page,‘Slag! Wait till I tell Jacob what we′ve been doing – and I will, you mark my words! He′ll want nowt to do with you then, will he, eh? He′ll see you for what you really are. A cheap and nasty little bitch!’
• 2008, Ashley Lister, Swingers - Female Confidential, %22slags%22+woman+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=iHNGYod7QR&sig=BT68B6WdPj6fVhH5gfjb5ySk7k4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=trZQUJXWOouhmQXb5oCACA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20woman%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 31,‘...He was a lovely man but, when I told him I wanted to continue swinging, he freaked out and called me a slag.’

Synonyms

• (impurities from a metal) dross, recrement, scoria
• (woman with loose sexual morals) see

Derived terms

• slag-bag
• slag heap
• slaggy

Verb

1. (transitive) To produce slag.
2. (transitive, with "off") To talk badly about; to malign or denigrate (someone).
• 2010, Courtenay Young, Help Yourself Towards Mental Health, %22slags%22+woman+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=qKXpJ037Jp&sig=OloMlfAWLxsKc9m4E69glHKv-oY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZpRRUKi1EOiUiAf6yIHACQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22slag%22|%22slags%22%20woman%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 344,If you slag off the other person, then—to the extent that your child identifies with that person as their parent—you are slagging off a part of them.
3. (intransitive, Australia, slang) To spit.

Derived terms

• slag about
• slag off
• slagging rag

Anagrams

• gals
• lags