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slouches

Verb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Moves in a bent, lazy, or awkward way. Here it makes the beast seem heavy and ominous.

Detailed Definition
To slouch is to move with a bent posture or a loose, dragging gait. Yeats uses the verb to make the approaching beast seem ungainly, menacing, and unstoppable.
Example
Example in poetry:
“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, / Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” — W. B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”; slouches makes the approaching creature seem ungainly, menacing, and inevitable; the verb sharply contrasts with the sacred expectation of Bethlehem; Yeats turns a casual bodily posture into an apocalyptic motion; the question leaves the prophecy unresolved
Additional Notes
The verb "slouches" is less common in elevated poetry than everyday motion words, and the quoted line uses it in a strikingly ominous way.; Found in the poem, The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats
Also Known As
slumps lolls
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