From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishslurslur1 /slɜː $ slɜːr/ verb (slurred, slurring) 1 [intransitive, transitive]SPEAK A LANGUAGE to speak unclearly without separating your words or sounds correctlyslur your words/speech She was slurring her words as if she was drunk. His voice sounded slurred.2 [transitive]CRITICIZE to criticize someone or something unfairly3 [transitive]APM to play a group of musical notes smoothly together→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
slur• After just a couple of drinks, she starts to slur.• Her speech was slurred and barely comprehensible.• Her speech was ever so slightly slurred and her eyes seemed to swim in and out of focus.• Much of her memory is gone, her speech is slurred, and she suffers seizures.• The voice was the same: clear and authoritative, sure of itself, although faintly slurred by alcohol.• Not only was the gentleman's intonation unmistakably genteel, but he was slurring his words very slightly.• When Lionel is tired he tends to slur his words.• He was laughing, his voice slurred with reds.slur your words/speech• She was slurring her words and holding on to the bar-top for support.• Not only was the gentleman's intonation unmistakably genteel, but he was slurring his words very slightly.slurslur2 noun [countable] 1 CRITICIZEan unfair criticism that is intended to make people dislike someone or somethingslur on/against Milton regarded her comment as a slur on his country. How dare she cast a slur on (=criticize) my character? a racist slur2 APM technical a curved line written over musical notes to show they must be played together smoothlyExamples from the Corpus
slur• With intense anger, I repeat, how dare she cast a slur on my character?• Your accusation of bribe-taking is a slur which I shall never forgive.• In modern notation it would be marked with horizontal dashes under a slur.• He didn't appreciate slurs on his manhood - even jokey ones.• California winemakers are now in the process of turning that ethnic slur on its head.• That's no slur when there's thousands homeless through the crimes of the property dealers.• The caller complained about racial slurs made by co-workers at the company.• Certainly it is the stuff of his sophomoric jokes, cheap one-liners and stereotyping slurs.cast ... slur on• How dare the hon. Gentleman cast a slur on the training arrangements currently in place in this country?• With intense anger, I repeat, how dare she cast a slur on my character?Origin slur1 1. (1700-1800) Probably from Low German slurrn “to shuffle”2. (1600-1700) slur “thin mud” ((15-19 centuries)) 