slavery

plural slaveries

1. uncountableusuallyAn institution or social practice of owning human beings as property, especially for use as forced laborers.

   modern slavery

   5 more examples

   abolition of slavery

   slavery system

   Slavery was abolished in the nineteenth century.

   The film portrays the brutality of slavery.

   THAT the Constitution does not confer upon Congress power to interfere with slavery in the States, has been admitted by all parties and confirmed by all judicial decisions ever since the origin of the Federal Government. This doctrine was emphatically recognized by the House of Representatives in the days of Washington, during the first session of the first Congress,* and has never since been seriously called in question. Hence, it became necessary for the abolitionists, in order to furnish a pretext for their assaults on Southern slavery, to appeal to a law higher than the Constitution. Slavery, according to them, was a grievous sin against God, and therefore no human Constitution could rightfully shield it from destruction. It was sinful to live in a political confederacy which tolerated slavery in any of the States composing it;[...]

   1866, James Buchanan, Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion, New York: D. Appleton and Company, →OCLC, →OL, page 9

2. uncountableusuallyForced labor in general, regardless of legality.
3. uncountableusuallyA condition of servitude endured by a slave.

   If you wil willingly remaine with me, You ſhall haue honors, as your merits be: Or els you ſhal be forc’d with ſlauerie.

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act (please specify |act=I or II), scene ii

   1 more example

   Our victories on Voeld are only the beginning of what we can achieve, but we can't defeat the enemy without your help. If you're tired of living in fear, if you believe we were meant for something greater than slavery, if you're willing to stand up and fight: you'll find a new family in the Resistance.

   2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: The Resistance Needs Volunteers

4. figurativelyuncountableusuallyA condition in which one is captivated or subjugated, as by greed or drugs.

   Man seeks for gold in mines that he may weave / A lasting chain for his own slavery.

   1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam, canto 8, stanza 16

comparative more slavery · superlative most slavery

1. Covered in slaver; slobbery.

   The giant snow bear, the wolf with slavery jaws or the claws of the silent great cats were all a part. Creatures of man's oldest nightmares were the other side of that face.

   2014, Lisa Williamson, Echoes of Elder Times Collection