▪ I. sloom, n.1 Now north. dial. and Sc.
(sluːm)
Forms: 1 sluma, 3 slume, 4 sloumbe, 8–9 sloum, 9 slowm, sloom, slum; 8–9 slome, 9 sloam; 8–9 slaum, 9 slawm, etc.
[OE. sl{uacu}ma, related to sloom v.1 Cf. Fris. slûm, slom(me, older Da. slum slumber, doze.]
A gentle sleep or slumber; a light doze. Also attrib.
In the Destr. Troy 13281 slym is prob. an error for slum.
| a 1000 Guthlac 314 (Gr.), Þæt hine æreste elne binoman slæpa sluman. c 1050 Be Domes D. 240 Se earma flyhð uncræftiᵹa slæp, sleac mid sluman. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 186 He..Slypped vpon a sloumbe slepe, & sloberande he routes. Ibid. 466 He slydez on a sloumbe slep, sloghe vnder leues. 1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. 96 Sloum, or slaum, a gentle sleep, or slumber. 1785 ― Bran New Wark 150 A third [will be] nodding his head in an easy slome. 1829– in northern dial. glossaries. 1863 Robson Bards of Tyne 359 When weary wi' weepin I sink to a slum. 1868 W. Shelley Flowers by Wayside 256 Whyles when I'm in a quiet sloom my Willie's hame to me. |
▪ II. sloom, n.2 local.
Also slum(b, sloam.
[Of obscure origin: the variant forms indicate an original slūm-.]
(See quots.)
| 1803 J. Plymley Agric. Shropshire 54 Slumbs, black-slaty earth, and a heaving measure. Ibid. 56 Top-coal and pound stone. Slums. Foot-coal. 1842 Brande Dict. Sci., etc. 1123/1 Sloam, layers of clay between those of coal. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 227 Sloom, a softish earthy clay or shale often underlying a bed of coal. Ibid. 228 Slum, Slums, Slumbs. 1. A blackish, slippery, indurated clay. 2. A soft clayey or shaley bed of coal. |
▪ III. sloom, v.1 Now north. dial. and Sc.
(sluːm)
Forms: 3 slume(n, slumme, slomme, 5, 9 slowm, 8–9 sloum, 9 sloom, slum, sloam, etc.
[ME. slūmen, slummen, = Fris. slûmje, slomje, MDu. slūmen (sluymen), MLG. slûmen, slomen, slommen, MHG. slummen, obs. G. schlummen, older Da. slumme (slome): cf. slumber v.]
intr. To slumber; to doze.
| c 1205 Lay. 17995 Merlin gon to slume swulc he wolde slæpen. Ibid. 32058 Þa gon he to slepen, þa gon he to slumme. a 1400–50 Alexander 5174 Ser Telomew..Fand him slowmand on slepe & sleely him rayses. 1768 Ross Helenore 58 Whiles slouming, whiles starting wi' her fright. 1819 Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 124 To tell th' unpillow'd crowds that lie Souffin' and sloomin' round. 1828– in northern dial. glossaries. 1860 Robson Song Solomon vii. 9 Garrin' the lips o' a' thae that slum to speak. 1868 W. Shelley Flowers by Wayside 54, I laid me down And sloomed aneth the Roden Tree. |
▪ IV. sloom, v.2 Sc.
(slum)
[app. of Scand. origin: cf. Norw. sluma to run up into long weak straw, and see next.]
Of grain, grass, etc.: To become laid or lodged through being soft and heavy in growth; to begin to decay on this account. Hence sloomed ppl. a. (see quot. 1824).
| 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 440 A strong crop of pease, or any other kind of corn laid down, and what is commonly called slooming. 1824 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 329 Those places where the weight and softness of the grass has flattened it with the earth... No other spot..offered as much verdure at this time as these seemingly sloomed places. 1875 N. & Q. Ser. v. III. 147 Ulster Words... ‘Sloam’, applied to corn crops when the stalks are too luxuriant in growth. |