sloughing

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of slough

plural sloughings

1. Something sloughed off.

   As the zoogleal slime reenters the wastewater, excess solids and waste products are stripped off the media as sloughings. These sloughings are transported with the wastewater flow to a settling tank for removal.

   2012, Frank Spellman, Revonna Bieber, Environmental Health and Science Desk Reference, page 831

2. biologyThe act of casting off the skin or shell; ecdysis.

   If all sloughings were successfully recorded, which is not certain since rattle segments were not color-coded during this study, the interval between events averaged 246.1 days (1.5 sloughings per snake per year).

   1995, Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History: Volume 38