slush

Etymology

It is of uncertain origin.^[2][3] Most dictionaries think it imitative of the sound of splashing or squelching,^[4][5][6][7] and set it beside sludge and slutch, both from the 17th century, and the later slosh.^[2][8][6] Others suggest a Scandinavian source, comparing Norwegian slusk (“slops, sloppy ground or weather”), Swedish slask (“slushy ground or weather”) and older Danish slus (“sleet, mud”),^{[9][3][10][11][12]} but the OED thinks the word appears too late for a connection with these to be likely.^[2] Klein took it as a variant of sludge.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The watery mass left when snow or ice partly melts: before 1642, in Henry Best's farming books.^[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged date it 1641.^[10][3]

Semantic evolution

By 1772 the word was also used of liquid mud.^[2][11] Sailors used it from 1756 for the waste fat from meat boiled on board ship;^[2][10][11] the money from selling this fat was the original slush fund (1839), which by 1874 meant money set aside for bribes, with a hint of greasing palms.^[11][10][6] The ship's fat also served as grease, and so to slush a mast meant to grease it (1823).^[2][11] Other mixtures used for lubricating or protecting machinery were called slush from the 1840s.^[2] The figurative sense, rubbishy talk or writing, and especially sentimental rubbish, appears in Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad (1869);^[2][10] in slang the word also meant worthless information,^[14] and counterfeit banknotes (1924).^[2] The verb, first recorded in 1807, is partly from the noun and partly imitative.^[2][3]

Timeline

• before 1642 – partly melted snow or ice.^[2]
• 1756 – nautical, refuse fat from meat boiled on a ship.^[2][10][11]
• 1772 – liquid mud, mire.^[2][11]
• 1807 – verb, to splash or soak with slush.^[2][3][10]
• 1823 – verb, to grease a mast with slush.^[2]
• 1839 – slush fund, money from the sale of a ship's slush.^[11][10]
• 1869 – rubbishy or sentimental talk or writing.^[2][10]
• 1880 – a heavy splashing sound.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Snow or ice that has partly melted into a watery mass: The pavements were covered in grey slush.^[12][3][2]
2. Soft, watery mud.^[12][3][2]
3. (informal) Sloppily sentimental talk or writing.^[12][2]
4. (nautical) Waste fat from a ship's galley.^[12][2]
5. A mixture of grease and other substances used to lubricate or protect machinery.^[3][2]

Verb

1. To make one's way through slush, or with a splashing sound.^[12][2]
2. To splash or soak with slush.^[3][2]
3. To coat with grease or a protective mixture.^[3][2]

Word family

• slushy
• slush fund

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
14. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com