slum Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a district of a city marked by poverty and inferior living conditions
    slum area.
  2. verb spend time at a lower socio-economic level than one's own, motivated by curiosity or desire for adventure; usage considered condescending and insensitive
    • attending a motion picture show by the upper class was considered sluming in the early 20th century

WordNet

Slum noun
Etymology
CF. Slump, n.
Definitions
  1. A foul back street of a city, especially one filled with a poor, dirty, degraded, and often vicious population; any low neighborhood or dark retreat; -- usually in the plural; as, Westminster slums are haunts for theives. Dickens.
  2. pl. (Mining) Same as Slimes.

Webster 1913