From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Slavery \Slav"er*y\, noun; pl. {Slaveries}. [See 2d {Slave}.]
1. The condition of a slave; the state of entire subjection of one person to the will of another.
Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, slavery, said I, still thou art a bitter draught! --Sterne.
I wish, from my soul, that the legislature of this state [Virginia] could see the policy of a gradual abolition of slavery. It might prevent much future mischief. --Washington.
2. A condition of subjection or submission characterized by lack of freedom of action or of will.
The vulgar slaveries rich men submit to. --C. Lever.
There is a slavery that no legislation can abolish, -- the slavery of caste. --G. W. Cable.
Syn: Bondage; servitude; inthrallment; enslavement; captivity; bond service; vassalage.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: the state of being under the control of another person [syn: {bondage}, {thrall}, {thralldom}, {thraldom}]
2: the practice of owning slaves [syn: {slaveholding}]
3: work done under harsh conditions for little or no pay
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
77 Moby Thesaurus words for "slavery": abjectness, absolutism, attendance, baseness, bond service, bondage, captivity, control, debt slavery, deprivation of freedom, dirty work, disenfranchisement, disfranchisement, domination, donkeywork, drudge, drudgery, employ, employment, enslavement, enthrallment, fag, fatigue, feudalism, feudality, grind, handiwork, handwork, hard labor, helotism, helotry, indentureship, industry, labor, lick, lick of work, manual labor, meanness, menialness, ministration, ministry, moil, peonage, plugging, rat race, restraint, scut work, serfdom, serfhood, servility, servitium, servitorship, servitude, slavishness, spadework, strain, stroke, stroke of work, subjection, subjugation, submissiveness, subservience, subserviency, sweat, task, tendance, thrall, thralldom, tiresome work, toil, travail, treadmill, tyranny, vassalage, villenage, work, yoke
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0