Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A squalid district inhabited chiefly by derelicts and vagrants.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An especially dilapidated section of a city, characterized by run-down or abandoned buildings, alcoholism and homelessness, and vices such as drug dealing and prostitution.
  • noun A colloquial designation of a run-down district of Los Angeles.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a city district frequented by vagrants and alcoholics and addicts

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of skid road (from the fact that it once referred to a downtown area frequented by loggers).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably from skid road ("a road along which logs were skidded"), transferred to the streets of towns where loggers had recreation on their time off.

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Examples

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