slot (3)

[Sw. slutt a slope, a declivity.] A (D) Slot of a hill: A hollow in a hill or between hollow. IMG:content-1604.png:[blocks in formation] 2. Disinclination to work or exertion; lazine , idlene ; habitual indolence; sluggishne . "Nor sloth hath seized me, but thy word restrains." Pope : Homer's Iliad, v. 1,013. II. Zool .: The popular name for any individual of the Edentate group Tardigrada (q. v.), from their slow and awkward movements on the ground, owing to the peculiar structure of the wrist st and ankle-joints. The feet are armed with long claws, and turned toward the body, so that the animal is compelled to rest on the side of the hind foot, while the disproportionate length of the fore-limbs causes it to rest also on the elbows. It shuffles for ward, alternately stretching the fore-legs and hooking the claws into the ground, or grasping some object to draw itself along. Sloths are natives of South America, nocturnal in habit, and are found in the forests of that region, pa ing their lives among the branches of trees, on the leaves and young shoots of which they feed. In moving from one limb of a tree to another, they hang back downward, einbracing the limb with their hind, and drawing themselves forward with their fore feet. They are covered with coarse, shaggy hair, not unlike withered gra , which protects them from insects and shields them from observation when at rest in the daytime. The stomach is complicated, but there is no rumination. The female produces but one at a birth, which clings to its mother till able to provide for itself. Their chief enemies are snakes and the Carnivora; their arboreal habits are a partial protection against the latter, and against the former they defend them selves by their powerful fore-limbs and claws. There are several species, the most important of which are described in this Dictionary under their popular names. [AI, TWO-TOED SLOTH, THREE TOED SLOTH.] *B. As adj.: Slow, slothful. "God is very sloth to avenge."-Latimer. 3725 sloth-animalcules, s. pl. Zool .: The Arachnidan order Tardigrada (q. v.). Called also Bear Animalcules. sloth-bear, s. Zool.: Melursus labiatus , an Indian bear, found throughout the Peninsula and in Ceylon. It feeds on ants, honey, fruit, and, occasionally, birds' eggs. It is between five and six feet long, extremely awkward and ungainly in appearance, and the snout and lower lips are prolonged. [PROC HILUS.] The fur is mostly black, the muzzle and tips of the feet being of a dirty white or yellowish color, and the breast ornamented with a light crescentic or V-shaped mark. *sloth, v . i . [SLOTH, 8.] To be slothful or idle. slōth-fül, *slouth-full, a. [Eng.sloth; -full.] Inactive, sluggish, lazy, indolent. "To vice industrious, but to nobler deeds Timorous and slothful ." Milton: P. L. , ii. 117. slōth-ful-ly, adv . [English slothful ; -ly .] In a slothful or lazy manner; lazily, sluggishly.