Slough (wetland)

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The word slough (in British English pronounced /ˈslaʊ/, to rhyme with "cow"; in American and Canadian English pronounced /ˈsluː/, "slew") has several meanings related to wetland or aquatic features.

The etymology is related to the Dutch word 'slechten' = to lower, to cut, to destroy. Also related to 'to slay'. In Irish, Gaelic sloc = a pit, pool. Also related to (German) schlucken, (Swed.) sluka, (Dutch) slikken = to swallow. Related to 'slime'. ^[1]^[2]

1 Descriptive meanings
2 Examples
3 In literature
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Descriptive meanings

In the UK, a slough is a muddy or marshy area.
In eastern and southeastern United States, a slough is a type of swamp or shallow lake system, typically formed as or by the backwater of a larger waterway. It is similar to a bayou with trees being present (that is, a swamp), and unlike a bog or marsh that lacks trees. It can also refer to the area of deeper water between a sandbar and a beach or between two sandbars.
The term slough appears as well in the names of oxbow lakes, e.g. Meadowbrook Slough of Snoqualmie River in Washington State.
In the western U.S., a slough is a secondary channel of a river delta or a narrow channel in a shallow salt-water marsh, usually flushed by the tide. While this is in essence the same application of the term as used in the eastern U.S., a singular difference is that there exist no native trees in the west that would grow out into the waterway to form a swamp, such as the Elkhorn Slough
In the northern Great Plains of the U.S., a slough is a pond (often alkaline) usually the result of glaciation (see kettle (geology)); also called a pothole, whence Prairie Pothole Region to describe the area where these sloughs are abundant.^{[citation needed]}
In the Canadian Prairies, slough refers to a naturally formed shallow freshwater pond, usually habitat for waterfowl.
In the case of the Sammamish Slough in the United States Pacific Northwest, slough refers to a slow-moving, canal-like river.