MEANING
1. To fall or sink suddenly or heavily, often because support gives way.
2. To sit, stand, or droop with the body bent loosely and the shoulders hanging.
3. To undergo a marked decline in activity, prices, performance, or output.
Use it for
Use for a collapse, a drooping posture, or a marked decline.Show a body or object giving way with sudden, heavy slackness.
Words that belong together
- slump against a wall
- slump forward
- slump to the floor
- slump under a burden
- slump into a chair
- slump in a seat
- sales slump
- prices slump
- performance slump
On the page
The exhausted guard slumped against the wall, his lantern slipping from one hand.
She slumped into the chair, the unanswered letter still clenched in her fist.
Local sales slumped after the factory closed for repairs.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- slump
- Past tense
- slumped
- Past participle
- slumped
- Present participle
- slumping
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- slump
- Present continuous
- am/is/are slumping
- Present perfect
- have/has slumped
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been slumping
- Past
- slumped
- Past continuous
- was/were slumping
- Past perfect
- had slumped
- Past perfect continuous
- had been slumping
- Future
- will slump
- Future continuous
- will be slumping
- Future perfect
- will have slumped
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been slumping
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Sense 1: The physical-fall sense suggests a heavy, loose drop; the word can also describe posture or a decline. Sense 2: This posture sense describes a loose, drooping body position and does not necessarily mean collapse. Sense 3: This figurative sense is intransitive and describes a significant downturn in quantity, activity, or performance.
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