SLUR

I. noun Etymology: obsolete English dialect ~ thin mud, from Middle English sloor; akin to Middle High German slier mud Date: 1609 1. an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo ; aspersion , a shaming or degrading effect ; stain , stigma , a blurred spot in printed matter ; smudge , II. verb (~red; ~ring) Date: 1660 transitive verb to cast aspersions on ; disparage , to make indistinct ; obscure , intransitive verb to slip so as to cause a ~, III. verb (~red; ~ring) Etymology: probably from Low German ~rn to shuffle; akin to Middle English sloor mud Date: 1660 transitive verb 1. to slide or slip over without due mention, consideration, or emphasis , to perform hurriedly ; skimp , to perform (successive tones of different pitch) in a smooth or connected manner, 3. to reduce, make a substitution for, or omit (sounds that would normally occur in an utterance), to utter with such reduction, substitution, or omission of sounds , intransitive verb slip , slide , drag , shuffle , IV. noun Date: circa 1801 1. a curved line connecting notes to be sung to the same syllable or performed without a break, the combination of two or more ~red tones, a ~ring manner of speech