overslaugh

English

Etymology

From Dutch overslag, from Dutch overslaan.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊ.vəɹˌslɔː/

Noun

overslaugh (plural overslaughs)

1. (US, dialect) A bar in a river.
   • 1836, Register of Debates in Congress:

     Let him look at the plan of 1832, to which the act of 1834 refers, and upon which it is founded, and he will find that it contains detailed estimates of the expense of clearing out not only the overslaugh, but also the obstructions between Albany and Troy.

   • 1840, “Hudson River Improvement”, in PUBLIC DOCUMENTS, page 184:

     The opening in dike No. 1 at the overslaugh was completed with the exception of deepening the cut, which could only be done at midsummer.

   • 1849, George Conclin, Conclin's New River Guide, page 28:

     The ice will start in pretty large masses wherever the river is tolerably straight and the current tolerably uniform; suppose the reason why the ice dams up opposite the city less frequently than below, is because the river is less obstructed here than below; that there is here a tolerably straight, free, depp channel' has seen the ice dammed at the overslaugh and at Van Wie's point; thinks the ice at the overslaugh does not freeze to the ground; thinks the reason why the ice dams at the overslaugh, is because the ice from above shoots under the ice formed there, and at length creates so great a friction that the power from above cant remove it.

2. (military) The permission to skip a duty; an exemption from an active duty.
   • 1892, Sisson Cooper Pratt, Guide to promotion, page 71:

     When an officer is on duty he receives an "overslaugh" for all other duties that come to his turn, provided that they are not additional duties that he may be called on to perform .

   • 1875, J. Jerome, The Office Duties of an Adjutant, page 71:

     When an officer's tour for more than one duty comes round on the same date, he is to be detailed for that duty only which has the precedence in the clasification in para. 2, Sec. 8, H.M. Reg.; and he is to receive an overslaugh for any other duty, the date being filled in for the duty performed, and a — [ blank line ] drawn in the column of the duty for which he receives the overslaugh .

   • 1895, John Davis, The History of the Second Queen's Royal Regiment:

     Hamilton, a brevet colonel, though only a captain in the regiment, is charged for these guards, and the governor of Gibraltar giving no "overslaugh" to absent officers, Colonel Hamilton was put to great expense. He sets forth in his memorial that as he is a colonel he is unable to join his regiment for captain's duty, and prays that the circumstances set forth in his memorial may be admitted as a reasonable plea for his remaining at home, and that an "overslaugh" may be allowed him, which was afterwards done.

Verb

overslaugh (third-person singular simple present overslaughs, present participle overslaughing, simple past and past participle overslaughed)

1. (US, dialect, slang, transitive) To hinder or stop, as by an overslaugh or impediment.

   to overslaugh a bill in a legislative body

   to overslaugh a military officer (= to hinder his promotion or employment)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “overslaugh”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)