slave

UK: /ˈsleɪv/ US: /sleɪv/ ,(slāv)

Inflections of 'slave' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

slaves

v 3rd person singular

slaving

v pres p

slaved

v past

slaved

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

slave /sleɪv/   n., v., slaved, slav•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. one who is the property of another and who must obey him or her:
   The Emancipation Proclamation freed only the slaves in the South and not the slaves in the border states.
2. one under the control or influence of another person or power:
   a slave to his desires.
3. Mechanical Engineering a mechanism under control of and repeating the actions of a similar mechanism.

v. 

4. to work like a slave:
   [no object* often: ~ + away (+ at + object);

   often: ~ (+ away) + over + object]

   He slaved away all last night (at fixing the kitchen cabinets). I slaved over the hot stove to prepare the meal.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

slave  (slāv), n., v., slaved, slav•ing. 
n. 

1. a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another;
   a bond servant.
2. a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person:
   a slave to a drug.
3. a drudge:
   a housekeeping slave.
4. Insects a slave ant.
5. Photography a subsidiary flash lamp actuated through its photoelectric cell when the principal flash lamp is discharged.
6. Mechanical Engineering [Mach.] a mechanism under control of and repeating the actions of a similar mechanism. Cf. master (def. 19).

v.i. 

7. to work like a slave;
   drudge.
8. to engage in the slave trade;
   procure, transport, or sell slaves.

v.t. 

9. Mechanical Engineering to connect (a machine) to a master as its slave.
10. [Archaic.] to enslave.

• Medieval Latin sclāvus (masculine), sclāva (feminine) slave, special use of Sclāvus Slavic, so called because Slavs were commonly enslaved in the early Middle Ages; see Slavic
• Middle English sclave 1250–1300

slave′less, adj. 
slave′like′, adj. 
Synonyms

• 7. toil, labor, slog, grind.

Slave  (slāv), n., pl. Slaves, (esp. collectively) Slave. 

1. Anthropology, Language Varieties a member of a group of Athabaskan-speaking North American Indians living in the upper Mackenzie River valley region of the Northwest Territories and in parts of British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon Territory.

Also, Slavey. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

slave / sleɪv/ noun

1. a person legally owned by another and having no freedom of action or right to property
2. a person who is forced to work for another against his or her will
3. a person under the domination of another person or some habit or influence
4. a person who works in harsh conditions for low pay
5. a device that is controlled by or that duplicates the action of another similar device (the master device)

verb

1. (intransitive) often followed by away: to work like a slave
2. (transitive)
   an archaic word for enslave

Etymology: 13th Century: via Old French from Medieval Latin Sclāvus a Slav, one held in bondage (from the fact that the Slavonic peoples were frequently conquered in the Middle Ages), from Late Greek Sklabos a Slav