I. slough 1 /slʌf/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1700-1800 ; Origin: slough 'dead skin of an animal' (14-21 centuries) , of unknown origin ]
slough something ↔ off phrasal verb
1 . technical to get rid of a dead layer of skin
2 . literary to get rid of something, especially something that is damaging you:
The president wanted to slough off the country’s bad image.
II. slough 2 /slaʊ $ sluː, slaʊ/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sloh ]
1 . [singular] literary a bad situation or a state of sadness that you cannot get out of easily
slough of
Harry was in a slough of despondency for weeks.
2 . [countable] an area of land covered in deep dirty water or mud