slave 1 of 2

noun

ˈslāv How to pronounce slave (audio)
Definition of slavenext
1
as in servant
a person who is considered the property of another person many American slaves reached freedom in the North through the network known as the Underground Railroad

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in laborer
a person who does very hard or dull work unappreciated office slaves who perform the necessary but tedious task of filing paperwork

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

slave

2 of 2

verb

as in to labor
to devote serious and sustained effort slaving over a hot stove

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of slave
Noun
The notion of zombies went back to that Caribbean nation’s days as a European colony, when huge numbers of largely African slaves were brutally disciplined and frequently worked to death by a white-settler minority. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 31 July 2026 The rugby union side’s is ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’, originally an African-American hymn sung by slaves in the United States in the mid-19th century. — George Edwards, New York Times, 31 July 2026
Verb
Defined by exhaustion from slaving away at the ironing board while confronting the latest family crisis, Angela is quite capable of whipping up baloney sandwiches with mayonnaise for all and functions as a wise-cracking, big-hearted den mother. — Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 4 Aug. 2025 However, the worse the prison’s conditions become — as the workers are forced to slave away on secret Death Star parts with no promise of release — the more Kino is pushed to join Cassian and his brewing prisoner revolt. — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for slave
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slave
  1. servant
  2. laborer
  3. labor
  4. bondman
  5. worker
  6. struggle
  7. chattel
  8. strive
Noun
  • Damon leads Christopher Nolan’s epic as Odysseus, while Leguizamo plays the hero’s faithful blind servant, Eumaeus.
    — Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 30 July 2026
  • The plot involves two sons of rich, miserly fathers in love with girls their fathers will never approve of and what happens when the fathers’ devious servants decide to give the boys a hand.
    — Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 July 2026
Definition of servant
Noun
  • Trump also got into trouble for hiring more than two hundred undocumented Polish laborers to handle the demolition.
    — Kai Bird, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Both are built by laborers, but opposing a pipeline amounts to stopping the creation of a few thousand jobs.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 31 July 2026
Definition of laborer
Verb
  • That left it to mixed, where the PBR teams labored past Chicago’s youngsters in two close mixed matches to win 3-1 and move onto the next round.
    — Todd Boss, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Wrobleski labored his previous two starts, giving up 12 runs and eight homers in 10 1/3 innings.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of labor
Noun
  • That is the standard set for bringing weapons and cellphones into a secure area, safeguarding department property, monitoring the radio, misusing department letterhead, badges or insignia, secondary employment violations, and recommending bondsmen or attorneys to inmates.
    — Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 29 May 2026
  • Kim Kardashian, who has advocated for prison reform, paid the bondsman to have Glossip released, her publicist told The Oklahoman.
    — Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 15 May 2026
Definition of bondman
Noun
  • Search and rescue efforts included nearby residents, emergency services, healthcare workers, security personnel and an expert team from the local disaster prevention office, per the BBC.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old migrant being held at the Delaney Hall detention center, was pronounced dead on Saturday by medical workers at University Hospital in Newark, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Monday.
    — Alex Stambaugh, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of worker
Verb
  • In this edition of the AJC On Campus Roundup, the number of Georgians struggling to pay them back has skyrocketed.
    — Jason Armesto, AJC.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Some have done so successfully, others have struggled to reach such heights.
    — Eduardo Tansley, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of struggle
Noun
  • Men were masters over their women, their chattel, and their emotions.
    — Rob Wolfe, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026
  • The law turned human beings into chattel, allowing them to be worked, beaten, sold, raped and killed — and France never formally did away with it.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 May 2026
Definition of chattel
Verb
  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum ruled out fracking in a key basin, citing danger to nearby water tables and indigenous communities — a move that highlights her political balancing act as the country strives to wean off US energy.
    — Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Leaders should strive to embed a security engineer directly into product squads from the design phase, turning cryptographic requirements into ordinary user stories rather than late-stage compliance findings.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of strive

Phrases Containing slave

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slaughters
slave
slaved
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Cite this Entry

“Slave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slave. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of slave for Spanish Speakers

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