sloughing
Skin naturally peeling
Sloughing is the shedding or casting off of dead tissue, skin, or outer layers.
Snakes slough their skin as they grow.
In medicine, dead tissue sloughs from a wound during healing.
Figuratively, to slough off something is to discard it as unnecessary or burdensome: She sloughed off her old habits.
Pronounced to rhyme with "stuffing."
Organic breakdown process
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
- putrefactionBacterial breakdown of tissue
- necrosisLocalized cell death
- gangreneTissue death from bloodlessness
eschar · deterioration · festering · debridement · ulceration · blight · breakdown · disintegration
Shedding in layers
- exfoliationShedding surface skin cells
- scrubClean by rubbing hard
- peelOuter fruit layer
- abrasionShallow surface wound
microdermabrasion · pumice · loofah · dermaplaning · scaliness · dandruff · scuffing · chafing
Biological self-repair process
- rebirthSpiritual or physical regeneration
- discardingRemoving what's unwanted
- releaseTo let go
- transformationThorough change in form
metamorphosis · growth · healing · recovery · rejuvenation · restoration · emergence
rot
Organic breakdown process
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
- putrefactionBacterial breakdown of tissue
- necrosisLocalized cell death
gangrene · eschar · deterioration · festering · debridement · ulceration · blight · breakdown · disintegration · degradation
flaking
Shedding in layers
- exfoliationShedding surface skin cells
- scrubClean by rubbing hard
- peelOuter fruit layer
abrasion · microdermabrasion · pumice · loofah · dermaplaning · scaliness · dandruff · scuffing · chafing · brushing
regeneration
Biological self-repair process
- rebirthSpiritual or physical regeneration
- discardingRemoving what's unwanted
- releaseTo let go
transformation · metamorphosis · growth · healing · recovery · rejuvenation · restoration · emergence
swamp
Waterlogged land with vegetation
mire · backwater · mudflat · estuary · fen · quagmire · wetland · creek · inlet · stagnant
- exfoliantsscrub, peel, loofah, pumice, pumice stone
- sheddingmoulting, molt, feather loss, fur loss, hair loss
- casting offcast off, letting go, release
- bridge playsfinesse, ruff, trump, discard, endplay
- necrosisnecrosis, tissue death, cell death, coagulative necrosis, caseous necrosis
- reptileslizard, snake, turtle, crocodile, alligator
sloughinggrowing
Increasing or enlarging
regenerating · proliferating · healing · generating · building
sloughingretaining
Holding onto still
keeping · holding · adhering · maintaining · preserving
sloughingaccumulating
Gathering in increasing quantity
accruing · amassing · gathering · adding · depositing
peeling, shedding, slough, molting, sloughs, sloughed, sloughy