Sloo

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. A dialect form of "slew" meaning to turn something round or swing it sideways on its axis
2. An old regional variant of "slew" describing the act of turning or pivoting an object around
3. A dialect verb for swinging or rotating something so that it faces a different direction

Etymology: "Sloo" is an alternative spelling of "slue," a word meaning to turn or swing something around on an axis. Sailors used it for a ship or a crane boom that swung out of line, and the same sense survives in the phrase "slue around." Its origin is uncertain: it may come from a Low German or Dutch seafaring term, but no source settles the question. The more familiar "slew," meaning a large quantity, is a different story. It came into American English as a colloquial word for a crowd or a great number, and it is probably borrowed from Irish "slua," meaning a host or multitude. The two words share a spelling pattern but not a clear ancestor, so the sense of turning and the sense of abundance are best treated as separate threads that happen to look alike on the page.