Definitions

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

  • noun A kind of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically of coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in place of standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other effect.
  • noun Language peculiar to a group; argot or jargon.
  • intransitive verb To use slang.
  • intransitive verb To use angry and abusive language.
  • intransitive verb To attack with abusive language; vituperate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The cant words or jargon used by thieves, peddlers, beggars, and the vagabond classes generally; cant.
  • noun In present use, colloquial words and phrases which have originated in the cant or rude speech of the vagabond or unlettered classes, or, belonging in form to standard speech, have acquired or have had given them restricted, capricious, or extravagantly metaphorical meanings, and are regarded as vulgar or inelegant.
  • noun Synonyms Slang, Colloquialism, etc. See cant.
  • noun A narrow piece of land. Also slanket.
  • noun A watch-chain.
  • noun plural Legirons or fetters worn by convicts.
  • noun An obsolete or archaic preterit of sling.
  • To use slang; employ vulgar or vituperative language.
  • To address slang or abuse to; berate or assail with vituperative or abusive language; abuse; scold.
  • noun Among London costermongers, a counterfeit weight or measure.
  • noun Among showmen: A performance.
  • noun A traveling booth or show.
  • noun A hawker's license: as, to be out on the slang (that is, to travel with a hawker's license).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun engraving A fetter worn on the leg by a convict.
  • noun Low, vulgar, unauthorized language; a popular but unauthorized word, phrase, or mode of expression; also, the jargon of some particular calling or class in society; low popular cant
  • Archaic imp. of sling. Slung.
  • transitive verb colloq. To address with slang or ribaldry; to insult with vulgar language.
  • noun Local, Eng. Any long, narrow piece of land; a promontory.

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

  • noun Language outside of conventional usage.
  • noun Language that is unique to a particular profession or subject; jargon.
  • noun The specialized language of a social group, sometimes used to make what is said unintelligible to those not members of the group; cant.
  • verb transitive, dated To vocally abuse, or shout at.

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

  • verb use slang or vulgar language
  • noun informal language consisting of words and expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal occasions; often vituperative or vulgar
  • noun a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)
  • verb fool or hoax
  • verb abuse with coarse language

Etymologies

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

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1756, origin unknown.

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Examples

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  • "Slang, though humanly irreverent, tends to be inhumanly loveless. It lacks tenderness and compassion; its poetry has the effulgence of a soldier's brass buttons." Anthony Burgess, New York Times, July 12, 1970.

    July 5, 2009

  • what tripe!

    July 5, 2009

  • Yes, what bollocks from Burgess!

    July 6, 2009