1
as in servant
a person who is considered the property of another person
many American slaves reached freedom in the North through the network known as the Underground Railroad
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in laborer
a person who does very hard or dull work
unappreciated office slaves who perform the necessary but tedious task of filing paperwork
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to labor
to devote serious and sustained effort
slaving over a hot stove
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of slave
Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 May 2025
Hundreds of slaves built and staffed the plantation for the family of prominent Louisiana planter John Hampden Randolph.
—Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 17 May 2025
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 14 Feb. 2025
Charcoal portraits depict six of the enslaved Africans who were aboard the Amistad, the 19th-century slaving schooner that became the center of a landmark Supreme Court case.
—Kaila Philo, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slave
Noun
Another figure highlighted in the show is Charles Ignatius Sancho, who was born on a British slave ship around 1729.
—Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 May 2025
Hundreds of slaves built and staffed the plantation for the family of prominent Louisiana planter John Hampden Randolph.
—Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 17 May 2025
Verb
For the Outies to live their lives without a second thought to that other person slaving away underground?
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 14 Feb. 2025
Charcoal portraits depict six of the enslaved Africans who were aboard the Amistad, the 19th-century slaving schooner that became the center of a landmark Supreme Court case.
—Kaila Philo, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slave
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slave
Noun
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Only one of the assailants, a servant named Hugh Colne, was charged in the case and imprisoned at Newgate in 1342.—
Mindy Weisberger,
CNN Money,
13 June 2025
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Inside, the mansion’s sprawling basement kitchen, once staffed by dozens of servants, cleverly doubles as the Russells’ New York kitchen.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
10 June 2025
Noun
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Some of the laborers were sent to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Baker County, while some went to Miami's Krome Detention Center.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
6 June 2025
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And, indeed, much like other immigrant laborers, French-Canadian loggers were subject to harsh working conditions and low pay as well as to political disenfranchisement.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
5 June 2025
Verb
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But the last pieces are always the hardest, and the weird SALT dance has the potential to snarl things even more at the last minute — especially after Speaker Johnson labored to get some of the same pro-SALT members to codify spending cuts.—
Burgess Everett,
semafor.com,
13 June 2025
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But build rather than buy has been the Apple ethos ever since Jobs and co-founder Steve Wozniak were laboring in their garage in the mid-1970s.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
11 June 2025
Noun
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Kevin Bacon starred as the titular bondsman, with Jennifer Nettles, Damon Herriman, Beth Grant, Maxwell Jenkins, and Jolene Purdy also starring.—
Joe Otterson,
Variety,
17 May 2025
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And that’s exactly what Hub gets when attempting to arrest two criminals who have escaped bail, but who end up catching the bondsman off-guard, shooting him with a shotgun blast (a bulletproof vest saves his life) and then ultimately slitting his throat with a knife.—
Demetrius Patterson,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The bleak episode follows a lower-middle-class couple, elementary school teacher Amanda (Jones), and construction worker Mike (Chris O’Dowd), whose lives come crashing down when Amanda is diagnosed with a brain tumor.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
14 June 2025
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His neighbors were bricklayers, rail workers, mechanics; a couple were doctors.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 June 2025
Verb
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Command and control continue to haunt Cleveland Guardians right-hander, Triston McKenzie. McKenzie, 27, struggled mightily in his brief appearances with the Guardians this season.—
Bernie Pleskoff,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
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Both ended up struggling to hold their country together, let alone effect the changes that their activist supporters had hoped to see.—
E. Tammy Kim,
New Yorker,
4 June 2025
Verb
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The album’s 11 tracks don’t strive to be confessional, just open.—
Janine Schaults,
Chicago Tribune,
3 June 2025
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This leads them to strive to inspire others, creating a virtuous cycle that perpetually increases engagement, a sense of purpose, and more.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
Noun
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There is no question, the enslaved workers at the Nottoway Plantation during the antebellum era were human chattel.—
Maurice Carlos Ruffin,
Time,
21 May 2025
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Khartoum was founded as a slave market, in 1821, and Arabs continued to raid southern areas, including the Nuba Mountains, for human chattel long after the practice was outlawed, in 1924.—
Nicolas Niarchos,
New Yorker,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Slave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slave. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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