slums

Noun (1)

slum (countable and uncountable, plural slums)

1. (countable, derogatory) A dilapidated neighborhood where many people live in a state of poverty.
   • Go to the half built-upon slums behind Battlebridge […] you will find groups of boys […] squatting in the mud, among the rubbish, the broken bricks, the dust-heaps, and the fragments of timber […]1855, Charles Dickens, “Gambling”, in Household Words, volume 31
2. (slang, uncountable) Inexpensive trinkets awarded as prizes in a carnival game.
   • The lower the price of slum the better it is for the operator who can either give more of it out or build up the size of his big prizes. It is the big prizes that bring the play, even though the winner has to be satisfied with a piece of slum for his efforts.1956, Theron Fox, How to Make Money with Carnival Games, page 58

Noun (2)

slum (uncountable)

1. (slang) Slumgullion; a meat-based stew.

Noun (3)

slum (uncountable)

1. (UK, obsolete, slang) Nonsense; humbug.
   • And this, without more slum began, / Over a flowing pot-house can, / To settle, without botheration, / The rigs of this here tip-top nation.1820, Thomas Moore, W. Simpkin, R. Marshall, Jack Randall's Diary of Proceedings at the House of Call for Genius

See all 6 meanings of slum