slump
/slʌmp/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.36 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To fall or sink suddenly through or in, when walking on a surface, as on thawing snow or ice, a bog, etc.
Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Exhausted, he slumped down onto the sofa."
- "“Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better.[…]”"
- "Real estate prices slumped during the recession."
- "The Gunners captain demonstrated his importance to the team by taking his tally to an outstanding 28 goals in 27 Premier League games as Chelsea slumped again after their shock defeat at QPR last week."
- "But in the week ending December 6, usage slumped from 72% of pre-pandemic numbers to just 56%, following revised advice that we should work from home again."
- "“Isaac Sachs’s tragic flaw, ” analyzes Isaac Sachs, slumped in the bay window across from Luisa Rey two hours later, “is this. Too cowardly to be a warrior, but not enough of a coward to lie down and roll over like a good doggy.”"
Etymology
Probably of North Germanic origin: compare Danish slumpe (“to stumble upon by chance”), Norwegian slumpe (“happen by chance”), Norwegian slumpa (“happen by chance”), Swedish slumpa (“randomize; to sell off”), Swedish slump (“chance, randomness, happenstance”). Compare also German schlumpen (“to trail; draggle; be sloppy”), dialectal Dutch slompen (“to walk clumsily”).
Usage
- Intransitive verb
- Transitive verb
- Slang
- British usage