n. & v.
n. 1 an overcrowded and squalid back street, district, etc., usu. in a city and inhabited by very poor people. 2 a house or building unfit for human habitation.
v.intr. (slummed, slumming) 1 live in slumlike conditions. 2 go about the slums through curiosity, to examine the condition of the inhabitants, or for charitable purposes. slum clearance the demolition of slums and rehousing of their inhabitants. slum it colloq. put up with conditions less comfortable than usual. slummy adj. (slummier, slummiest). slumminess n.
[ 19th c.: orig. cant ]