The word for today is…
slough (noun, verb, geographical name):
noun 1:
1: a place of deep mud or mire
2 : a state of moral degradation or spiritual dejection
verb 1:
to plod through or as if through mud
noun 2:
1 : the cast-off skin of a snake
2 : a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer
3 : something that may be shed or cast off
verb 2:
1a : to become shed or cast off
b : to cast off one’s skin
c : to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue
2 : to crumble slowly and fall away
geographical name (capitalised)
town in Berkshire, southeast central England, west of London population 155,000
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : There are two verbs spelled slough in English, as well as two nouns, and both sets have different pronunciations. The first noun, referring to a swamp or a discouraged state of mind, is pronounced to rhyme with either blue or cow. Its related verb, which can mean “to plod through mud,” has the same pronunciation. The second noun, pronounced to rhyme with cuff, refers to the shed skin of a snake (as well as anything else that has been cast off). Its related verb describes the action of shedding or eliminating something, just like a snake sheds its skin. This slough comes from Middle English slughe and is related to sluch, a Middle High German word meaning “snakeskin.”
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