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slavery definition

slav·ery (slā′vər ē, slāv′rē)

noun

  1. the owning or keeping of slaves as a practice or institution; slaveholding
  2. the condition of being a slave; bondage; servitude
  3. a condition of submission to or domination by some influence, habit, etc.
  4. hard work or toil like that done by slaves; drudgery

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

slavery Synonyms

slavery

n.

  1. Bondage

    bondage, servitude, thralldom, enthrallment, subjection, subjugation, serfdom, constraint, captivity, restraint, bond service, vassalage, involuntary servitude; see also captivity.

  2. The use of slaves as an institution

    owning slaves, slaveholding, slave-owning, practicing slavery, holding slaves, the peculiar institution*; see also sense 1.

  3. Drudgery

    toil, menial labor, grind; see work 2.

slavery implies absolute subjection to another person who owns and completely controls one; servitude refers to compulsory labor or service for another, often, specif., such labor imposed as punishment for crime; bondage originally referred to the condition of a serf bound to his master's land, but now implies any condition of subjugation or captivity


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

slavery Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • sin: Thus, Christ uses his priceless life to redeem us from the slavery of sin and Satan.

Converse of object

  • abolish: Robbins compares the new movement with the early battles to abolish slavery in the 18th century.

Preposition: in

  • colony: This included an act for the abolition of slavery in the colonies and the 1833 Factory Act.

Adjective modifier

  • transatlantic: The conference will focus on the relationship between history, cultural memory and transatlantic slavery.

Noun used with modifier

  • chattel: It is at least as feeble as the case for chattel slavery.
slavery usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

slavery quotes

If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves? as they must be if the being subjected to the inconsistent, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary will of men, be the perfect condition of slavery? and if the essence of freedom consists, as our masters say it does, in having a standing rule to live by? And why is slavery so much condemnedandstroveagainst inonecase, andsohighly applauded, and held so necessary and so sacred in another?

-Astell, Mary

But when a man who sees the world one way becomes Barker theslave of a manwho interpretstheworld inexactly the opposite way, the result is, to my mind, the worst possible kind of slavery.

-Jones

Slavery they can have anywhere. It is a weed that grows in every soil.

-Burke, Edmund

slavery quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"slavery." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 2 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/slavery>

APA Style

slavery. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 2nd, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/slavery

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