From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Slander \Slan"der\, noun [OE. sclandere, OF. esclandre, esclandle, escandre, F. esclandre, fr. L. scandalum, Gr. ??? a snare, stumbling block, offense, scandal; probably originally, the spring of a trap, and akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap. See {Scan}, and cf. {Scandal}.]
1. A false tale or report maliciously uttered, tending to injure the reputation of another; the malicious utterance of defamatory reports; the dissemination of malicious tales or suggestions to the injury of another.
Whether we speak evil of a man to his face or behind his back; the former way, indeed, seems to be the most generous, but yet is a great fault, and that which we call ''reviling;'' the latter is more mean and base, and that which we properly call ''slander'', or ''Backbiting.'' --Tillotson.
[We] make the careful magistrate The mark of slander. --B. Jonson.
2. Disgrace; reproach; dishonor; opprobrium.
Thou slander of thy mother's heavy womb. --Shak.
3. (Law) Formerly, defamation generally, whether oral or written; in modern usage, defamation by words spoken; utterance of false, malicious, and defamatory words, tending to the damage and derogation of another; calumny. See the Note under {Defamation}. --Burril.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Slander \Slan"der\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Slandered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Slandering}.]
1. To defame; to injure by maliciously uttering a false report; to tarnish or impair the reputation of by false tales maliciously told or propagated; to calumniate.
O, do not slander him, for he is kind. --Shak.
2. To bring discredit or shame upon by one's acts.
Tax not so bad a voice To slander music any more than once. --Shak.
Syn: To asperse; defame; calumniate; vilify; malign; belie; scandalize; reproach. See {Asperse}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another
2: an abusive attack on a person's character or good name [syn: {aspersion}, {calumny}, {defamation}, {denigration}]
verb
1: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation" [syn: {defame}, {smirch}, {asperse}, {denigrate}, {calumniate}, {smear}, {sully}, {besmirch}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
56 Moby Thesaurus words for "slander": asperse, assail, attack, backbite, backbiting, backstabbing, barefaced lie, belie, belittlement, bitchiness, blackwash, calumniate, calumniation, calumny, cattiness, character assassination, consummate lie, damage, decry, defamation, defamation of character, defame, denigrate, depreciation, dirt, disparage, disparagement, gossip column, hurt, injure, juicy morsel, libel, malicious gossip, malign, misrepresentation, monstrous lie, muckrake, muckraking, obloquy, out-and-out lie, roorback, scandal, scandalmongering, slur, smear, strumpet, tale, tear down, the big lie, tidbit, traduce, traducement, vilification, vilify, whispering campaign, whopper
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