Sloth

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sloth \Sloth\, n. [OE. slouthe, sleuthe, AS. sl?w?, fr. sl[=a]w
     slow. See {Slow}.]
     1. Slowness; tardiness.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              These cardinals trifle with me; I abhor


              This dilatory sloth and tricks of Rome. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Disinclination to action or labor; sluggishness; laziness;
        idleness.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              [They] change their course to pleasure, ease, and
              sloth.                                --Milton.
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              Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears.
                                                    --Franklin.
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     3. (Zool.) Any one of several species of arboreal edentates
        constituting the family {Bradypodidae}, and the suborder
        Tardigrada. They have long exserted limbs and long
        prehensile claws. Both jaws are furnished with teeth (see
        Illust. of {Edentata}), and the ears and tail are
        rudimentary. They inhabit South and Central America and
        Mexico.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The three-toed sloths belong to the genera {Bradypus}
           and {Arctopithecus}, of which several species have been
           described. They have three toes on each foot. The
           best-known species are collared sloth ({Bradypus
           tridactylus}), and the ai ({Arctopitheus ai}). The
           two-toed sloths, consisting the genus {Cholopus}, have
           two toes on each fore foot and three on each hind foot.
           The best-known is the unau ({Cholopus didactylus}) of
           South America. See {Unau}. Another species ({Cholopus
           Hoffmanni}) inhabits Central America.
           Various large extinct terrestrial edentates, such as
           Megatherium and Mylodon, are often called sloths.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Australian sloth}, or {Native sloth} (Zool.), the koala.
  
     {Sloth animalcule} (Zool.), a tardigrade.
  
     {Sloth bear} (Zool.), a black or brown long-haired bear
        ({Melursus ursinus}, or {Melursus labiatus}), native of
        India and Ceylon; -- called also {aswail}, {labiated
        bear}, and {jungle bear}. It is easily tamed and can be
        taught many tricks.
  
     {Sloth monkey} (Zool.), a loris.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sloth \Sloth\, v. i.
     To be idle. [Obs.] --Gower.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sloth
       n 1: a disinclination to work or exert yourself [syn: {slothfulness}]
       2: any of several slow-moving arboreal mammals of South America
          and Central America; they hang from branches back downward
          and feed on leaves and fruits [syn: {tree sloth}]
       3: apathy and inactivity in the practice of virtue (personified
          as one of the deadly sins) [syn: {laziness}, {acedia}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  185 Moby Thesaurus words for "sloth":
     Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Primates, Rodentia, accidia, acedia,
     aloofness, anger, apathy, army, ataraxia, ataraxy, avarice,
     avaritia, benumbedness, blah, blahs, boredom, bunch, carelessness,
     casualness, cautiousness, cave of Trophonius, cave of despair,
     circumspection, colony, comatoseness, creeping, deadly sin,
     deliberateness, deliberation, despair, desperateness, desperation,
     despondency, detachment, dilatoriness, disconsolateness,
     disinterest, dispassion, disregard, disregardfulness,
     do-nothingness, drawl, drift, drive, drove, drowsiness, dullness,
     easygoingness, enervation, ennui, envy, ergophobia, faineancy,
     faineantise, fatigue, flock, foot-dragging, forlornness, gam, gang,
     gluttony, greed, gula, heartlessness, heaviness, hebetude,
     heedlessness, herd, hoboism, hopelessness, host, idleness, idling,
     inanimation, inappetence, inattention, inattentiveness,
     incuriosity, indifference, indiscrimination, indolence, inertia,
     inertness, inexcitability, inexertion, insouciance, invidia, ira,
     jadedness, just being, kennel, lack of affect, lack of appetite,
     lackadaisicalness, laggardness, languidness, languishment, languor,
     languorousness, lassitude, laze, laziness, lazing, leisureliness,
     lenitude, lentitude, lentor, lethargicalness, lethargy,
     lifelessness, listlessness, litter, loafing, lotus-eating, lust,
     luxuria, mere existence, mere tropism, mindlessness, negligence,
     no exit, no way, no way out, nonchalance, numbness, oscitancy,
     pack, passiveness, passivity, phlegm, phlegmaticalness,
     phlegmaticness, plucklessness, pococurantism, pod, pokiness, pride,
     recklessness, regardlessness, reluctance, remissness, resignation,
     resignedness, satedness, school, shiftlessness, shoal, skulk,
     slackness, sleepiness, slothfulness, slouch, slowness, sluggardy,
     sluggishness, somnolence, sopor, soporifousness, spiritlessness,
     spring fever, spunklessness, stagnation, stupefaction, stupor,
     superbia, supineness, tentativeness, torpidity, torpidness,
     torpitude, torpor, trip, troop, unanxiousness, unconcern,
     unmindfulness, unsolicitousness, vagrancy, vegetation, weariness,
     withdrawnness, world-weariness, wrath