The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Sloth \Sloth\, n. [OE. slouthe, sleuthe, AS. sl?w?, fr. sl[=a]w
slow. See Slow.]
1. Slowness; tardiness.
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These cardinals trifle with me; I abhor
This dilatory sloth and tricks of Rome. --Shak.
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2. Disinclination to action or labor; sluggishness; laziness;
idleness.
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[They] change their course to pleasure, ease, and
sloth. --Milton.
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Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears.
--Franklin.
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3. (Zool.) Any one of several species of arboreal edentates
constituting the family Bradypodidae, and the suborder
Tardigrada. They have long exserted limbs and long
prehensile claws. Both jaws are furnished with teeth (see
Illust. of Edentata), and the ears and tail are
rudimentary. They inhabit South and Central America and
Mexico.
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Note: The three-toed sloths belong to the genera Bradypus
and Arctopithecus, of which several species have been
described. They have three toes on each foot. The
best-known species are collared sloth (Bradypus
tridactylus), and the ai (Arctopitheus ai). The
two-toed sloths, consisting the genus Cholopus, have
two toes on each fore foot and three on each hind foot.
The best-known is the unau (Cholopus didactylus) of
South America. See Unau. Another species (Cholopus
Hoffmanni) inhabits Central America.
Various large extinct terrestrial edentates, such as
Megatherium and Mylodon, are often called sloths.
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Australian sloth, or Native sloth (Zool.), the koala.
Sloth animalcule (Zool.), a tardigrade.
Sloth bear (Zool.), a black or brown long-haired bear
(Melursus ursinus, or Melursus labiatus), native of
India and Ceylon; -- called also aswail, labiated
bear, and jungle bear. It is easily tamed and can be
taught many tricks.
Sloth monkey (Zool.), a loris.
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