Slave trade

Slave trade
Slave Slave (sl[=a]v), n. [Cf. F. esclave, D. slaaf, Dan. slave, sclave, Sw. slaf, all fr. G. sklave, MHG. also slave, from the national name of the Slavonians, or Sclavonians (in LL. Slavi or Sclavi), who were frequently made slaves by the Germans. See {Slav}.] 1. A person who is held in bondage to another; one who is wholly subject to the will of another; one who is held as a chattel; one who has no freedom of action, but whose person and services are wholly under the control of another. [1913 Webster]

Art thou our slave, Our captive, at the public mill our drudge? --Milton. [1913 Webster]

2. One who has lost the power of resistance; one who surrenders himself to any power whatever; as, a slave to passion, to lust, to strong drink, to ambition. [1913 Webster]

3. A drudge; one who labors like a slave. [1913 Webster]

4. An abject person; a wretch. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

{Slave ant} (Zo["o]l.), any species of ants which is captured and enslaved by another species, especially {Formica fusca} of Europe and America, which is commonly enslaved by {Formica sanguinea}.

{Slave catcher}, one who attempted to catch and bring back a fugitive slave to his master.

{Slave coast}, part of the western coast of Africa to which slaves were brought to be sold to foreigners.

{Slave driver}, one who superintends slaves at their work; hence, figuratively, a cruel taskmaster.

{Slave hunt}. (a) A search after persons in order to reduce them to slavery. --Barth. (b) A search after fugitive slaves, often conducted with bloodhounds.

{Slave ship}, a vessel employed in the slave trade or used for transporting slaves; a slaver.

{Slave trade}, the business of dealing in slaves, especially of buying them for transportation from their homes to be sold elsewhere.

{Slave trader}, one who traffics in slaves. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Bond servant; bondman; bondslave; captive; henchman; vassal; dependent; drudge. See {Serf}. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • slave trade — slave ,trade noun uncount the business of buying and selling people as SLAVES, especially the trade in people from Africa who in the past were brought to North and South America to be sold …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • slave trade — slave′ trade n. amh. the business of procuring, transporting, and selling slaves, esp. the bringing of black Africans to America • Etymology: 1725–35 …   From formal English to slang

  • slave trade — ► NOUN historical ▪ the procuring, transporting, and selling of human beings, especially African blacks, as slaves …   English terms dictionary

  • slave trade — n. traffic in slaves; specif., the former transportation of black people from Africa to America for sale as slaves …   English World dictionary

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  • Slave Trade —    For most of the nineteenth century a commerce in human misery was in steady decline among the imperial powers. The Atlantic slave trade during the sixteenth century was initially established by Spain and Portugal for the transport of enslaved… …   Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914

  • slave trade — noun traffic in slaves; especially in Black Africans transported to America in the 16th to 19th centuries (Freq. 1) • Syn: ↑slave traffic • Hypernyms: ↑traffic * * * noun : traffic in slaves; especially …   Useful english dictionary

  • slave trade — N SING: the N The slave trade is the buying and selling of slaves, especially Black Africans, from the 16th to the 19th centuries. More than a century and a half since the transatlantic slave trade was abolished, slavery is far from dead …   English dictionary

  • slave trade — the business or process of procuring, transporting, and selling slaves, esp. black Africans to the New World prior to the mid 19th century. [1725 35] * * * Capturing, selling, and buying of slaves. Slavery has existed throughout the world from… …   Universalium

  • Slave Trade Compromise and Fugitive Slave Clause — The Framers debated over the extent to which slavery would be included, permitted, or prohibited in the United States Constitution. In the end, they created a document of compromise that represented the interests of the nation as they knew it and …   Wikipedia

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