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slump

 
Dictionary: slump   (slŭmp) pronunciation
 
intr.v., slumped, slump·ing, slumps.
  1. To fall or sink heavily; collapse: She slumped, exhausted, onto the sofa.
  2. To droop, as in sitting or standing; slouch.
    1. To decline suddenly; fall off: Business slumped after the holidays.
    2. To perform poorly or inadequately: The team has been slumping for a month.
    1. To sink or settle, as into mud or slush.
    2. To slide down or spread out thickly, as mud or fresh concrete.
n.
  1. The act or an instance of slumping.
  2. A drooping or slouching posture: read defeat in the slump of his shoulders.
  3. A sudden falling off or decline, as in activity, prices, or business: a stock market slump; a slump in farm prices.
  4. An extended period of poor performance, especially in a sport or competitive activity: a slump in a batting average.
  5. See grunt (sense 5).

[Probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian slumpa, to slump.]


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Short-term drop in performance. The economy may enter a slump when it goes into a Recession. An individual stock or mutual fund may be in a slump if its price falls over several weeks or months. A normally productive employee may go into a slump and be less productive if he or she is having financial or emotional difficulties. A slump is considered to be a temporary phenomenon, from which the economy, investment or employee will soon recover.

 

An old-fashioned New England dessert of fruit, usually berries, topped with biscuit dough and stewed until the biscuit topping is cooked through. Also called grunt.

 
Thesaurus: slump
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verb

  1. To go from a more erect posture to a less erect posture: drop, fall, sink. See rise/fall.
  2. To take on or move with an awkward, slovenly posture: loll, slouch. See move/halt, posture.
  3. To undergo a sharp, rapid descent in value or price: dive, drop, fall, nose-dive, plummet, plunge, sink, skid, tumble. Idioms: take a suddendowntrenddownturn. See increase/decrease.

noun

  1. A usually swift downward trend, as in prices: decline, descent, dip, dive, downslide, downswing, downtrend, downturn, drop, drop-off, fall, nosedive, plunge, skid, slide, tumble. See increase/decrease.
  2. A period of decreased business activity and high unemployment: depression, recession. See rich/poor.

 
Antonyms: slump
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n

Definition: decline, failure
Antonyms: blessing, boon, increase, rise, success, upturn

v

Definition: decline, sink
Antonyms: ascend, increase, rise, soar


 

A form of mass movement where rock and soil move downwards along a concave face. The rock or soil rotates backwards as it moves in a rotational slip. Slumps are most common in thick regoliths and large mudstone rock units, but can also occur in hard rock which has been shattered. They differ from slides because they always have shear planes which are concave, while the latter have relatively straight shear planes.

 
Architecture: slump
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A measure of consistency of freshly mixed concrete, mortar, or stucco; equal to the decrease in height, measured to the nearest ¼ in. (6 mm) of the molded mass immediately after its removal from a slump cone.


 

For a team or an athlete, a sudden or gradual decline in form that extends beyond normal fluctuations. The occurrence of a slump can be self-perpetuating by demotivating athletes, undermining their confidence, and increasing their anxiety. Coaches and sport psychologists have devised various intervention strategies, including a specific slump-related coping strategy based on the COPE model, to deal with the negative ways in which athletes may apprehend, interpret, and respond to a slump.

 
Wikipedia: Slump
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The slump that destroyed Thistle, Utah, by creating an earthen dam that flooded the area

Slump is a form of mass wasting event that occurs when loosely consolidated materials or rock layers move a short distance down a slope.[1] The landmass and the surface it slumps upon is called a failure surface. When the movement occurs in soil, there is often a distinctive rotational movement to the mass, that cuts vertically through bedding planes (landslides take place along a bedding plane or fault). This rotational movement moves along a curved slip surface of regolith (the failure surface) which overlies bedrock. This results in internal deformation of the moving mass consisting chiefly of overturned folds called "sheath folds." The surface of the mass often remains relatively undisturbed, especially at the top. However, hummocky ridges may form near the toe of the slump . The cut which forms as the landmass breaks away from the slope is called the "scarp" and is often cliff-like and concave. Cracks at the head scarp drain water, killing trees. Power lines, fences, roads, houses, and other manmade structures are frequently damaged if in the path of a slump. Slumps frequently form due to removal of a slope base, either from natural or manmade processes. Stream or wave erosion, as well as road construction are common instigators for slumping. It is the removal of the slope's physical support which provokes this mass wasting event. Earthquakes also trigger massive slumps, such as the fatal slumps of Turnagain Heights Subdivision in Anchorage, Alaska. This particular slump was initiated by a magnitude 8.4 earthquake that resulted in liquifaction of the soil. Around 75 houses were destroyed by the Turnagain Slump.

Slumped chalk slopes at Mupe Bay, Dorset

The speed of slump varies widely, ranging from meters per second, to meters per year. Sudden slumps usually occur after earthquakes or heavy continuing rains. The rain provides lubrication for the material to slide, and increases the self-mass of the material. Both factors increase the rate of slumping. Slumps may also occur underwater along the margins of continents and islands. These submarine slumps can generate disastrous tsunamis. The underwater terrain which encompasses the Hawaiian Islands gains its unusual hummocky topography from the many slumps that have taken place for millions of years.

Other meanings

In economics, an economic slump is also used as another term for a recession or depression. It can also be used in demographics to describe a loss of population, i.e. "population slump", or in sport to refer to span of poor performance by an athlete or a team.

See also

References

  1. ^ Tarbuck & Lutgens (1999), pp 219-220
  • Tarbuck, E.J. & Lutgens, F.K.; 1999: Earth, an introduction to Physical Geology, Prentice Hall (6th ed.), ISBN 0-13-011201-1.


This article about a civil engineering topic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

 
Translations: Slump
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Dansk (Danish)
v. intr. - falde, sidde sammenfalden, lade sig dumpe, sætte sig
n. - nedgang, lavkonjunktur, depression, nedgangsperiode, erhvervskrise

Nederlands (Dutch)
instorten, dalende conjunctuur, val, inzinking, malaise

Français (French)
v. intr. - chuter, s'effondrer, s'affaler, s'écrouler
n. - effondrement, chute

Deutsch (German)
n. - starker Rückgang, Sturz
v. - stark zurückgehen, fallen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - απότομη κάμψη ή πτώση, ύφεση, κατρακύλισμα, κατάρρευση, καθίζηση
v. - πέφτω, σωριάζομαι, καταρρέω, κατρακυλώ, βουλιάζω, συσσωρεύω, στοιβάζω

Italiano (Italian)
crollare, calo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - queda brusca (f), declínio (m), colapso (m)
v. - cair, atolar, baixar

Русский (Russian)
большое количество, болото, резкое падение, экономический спад, падение интереса, оползень, резко падать, вызывать резкое падение, внезапно стихать, тяжело опускаться, швырять, с треском захлопывать, с трудом передвигаться

Español (Spanish)
v. intr. - hundirse, desplomarse, caer verticalmente
n. - baja o caída repentina, bajón, depresión económica

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - prisfall, depression, lågkonjunktur, kraftig nedgång, nedgångsperiod, jordskred
v. - falla plötsligt, rasa, sjunka ner, sjunka ihop, sitta hopsjunken, sätta sig (betong)

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
倒下, 陷落, 衰落, 下跌, 下降, 暴跌, 不景气, 消沉, 萎靡

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. intr. - 倒下, 陷落, 衰落, 下跌, 下降
n. - 暴跌, 不景氣, 下降, 消沈, 萎靡

한국어 (Korean)
v. intr. - 푹 떨어지다, 몸이 구부정하게 되다, (경기가) 폭락하다
n. - 쿵 떨어짐, 슬럼프, 구부정한 자세

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 暴落, 不振
v. - ドサッと倒れこむ, 暴落する, 急に落ちる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) سقوط أو هبوط في ألاسعار (فعل) يمشي مسترخيا, يسقط فجأة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. intr. - ‮נפל, צנח, התמוטט‬
n. - ‮נפילה, ירידה תלולה, תקופת שפל‬


 
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American Sign Language
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Slump" Read more
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