# slave

/ˈsɫeɪv/ (US) · /slˈeɪv/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/slave
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. person owned by another

noun · CEFR B2

a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.

For teachers: a person held in servitude as the property of another, whose labour and life are subject to the owner's control.

- In the 1800s, many people fought to end the laws that allowed one person to own a slave.
- Historical accounts detail the brutal conditions endured by every slave on the plantation, highlighting the systemic dehumanisation inherent in chattel slavery.

### 2. someone controlled by a habit

noun · CEFR C1 · Literary

someone who is completely controlled by a habit, emotion, or influence.

For teachers: one who has no power of resistance to a specific influence or is under the domination of a habit.

- He admitted that he had become a slave to his work, never leaving the office before midnight.
- The protagonist is depicted as a slave to his own ambition, eventually sacrificing his personal relationships for professional gain.

### 3. secondary device

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a machine or part of a machine that is controlled by another 'master' machine.

For teachers: a device or software process that is subject to the control of another primary device or process.

- The photographer used a slave flash that triggered automatically when the main camera flashed.
- The database architecture was configured with one master node and three slave nodes to handle the high volume of read requests.

Usage: In modern technical contexts, many organisations are replacing this term with 'secondary' or 'replica' to avoid offensive connotations.

Teaching tip: Teachers should note that this terminology is being phased out in many tech companies in favour of more neutral language.

### 4. to work very hard

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal

to work very hard for a long time, especially doing boring or difficult work.

For teachers: to work in a laborious or drudging manner; to toil excessively.

- I've been slaving away in the kitchen all morning to get this dinner ready for you.
- Despite slaving away at the research for months, the assistant received very little credit when the final paper was published.

Usage: Often used with the particle 'away'.

## Examples

- The computer uses a slave drive to store extra data.
- In professional photography, a slave flash triggers automatically when it detects the light from the main camera flash.
- Historians continue to study the systemic impact of the transatlantic trade on those who were held as slaves and the societies that profited from their forced labor.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.