Slop

verb (used with object), slopped, slopping.
1.
to spill or splash (liquid).
2.
to spill liquid upon.
3.
to feed slop to (pigs or other livestock).
verb (used without object), slopped, slopping.
4.
to spill or splash liquid (sometimes followed by about):
The children happily slopped about in the puddles.
5.
(of liquid) to spill or splash out of a container (usually followed by over):
The milk slopped over the rim of the glass.
6.
to walk or go through mud, slush, or water.
7.
Informal. to be unduly effusive or sentimental; gush (usually followed by over).
8.
to move in an idle, lazy, casual, or slovenly manner (usually followed by around or about):
to spend the weekend slopping around the house.
noun
9.
a quantity of liquid carelessly spilled or splashed about.
10.
badly cooked or unappetizing food or drink.
11.
bran from bolted cornmeal mixed with an equal part of water and used as a feed for swine and other livestock.
12.
any similar, watery feed; swill.
13.
Often, slops.

the dirty water, liquid refuse, etc., of a household or the like.
tasteless or unappetizing soup, stew, or drink.

14.
kitchen refuse; swill.
15.
liquid mud.
16.
slops, Distilling. the mash remaining after distilling.
noun
1.
slops.

clothing, bedding, etc., supplied to sailors from the ship’s stores.
cheap, ready-made clothing in general.
short, baggy trousers, worn by men, especially sailors, in the 16th and 17th centuries.

2.
a loose-fitting overgarment, as a tunic or smock.
verb slops, slopping, slopped
1.
when intr, often foll by about. to cause (liquid) to splash or spill or (of liquid) to splash or spill
2.
(transitive) to splash liquid upon
3.
(intransitive; foll by along, through, etc) to tramp (through) mud or slush
4.
(transitive) to feed slop or swill to: to slop the pigs
5.
(transitive) to ladle or serve, esp clumsily
6.
(informal, mainly US & Canadian) (intransitive) foll by over. to be unpleasantly effusive
noun
7.
a puddle of spilt liquid
8.
(pl) wet feed, esp for pigs, made from kitchen waste, etc
9.
(pl) waste food or liquid refuse
10.
(pl) the beer, cider, etc, spilt from a barrel while being drawn
11.
(often pl) the residue left after spirits have been distilled
12.
(often pl) (informal) liquid or semiliquid food of low quality
13.
soft mud, snow, etc
14.
(informal) gushing speech or writing
noun
1.
(pl) sailors’ clothing and bedding issued from a ship’s stores
2.
any loose article of clothing, esp a smock
3.
(pl) men’s wide knee breeches worn in the 16th century
4.
(pl) shoddy manufactured clothing

jargon
1. A one-sided fudge factor, that is, an allowance for error but in only one of two directions. For example, if you need a piece of wire 10 feet long and have to guess when you cut it, you make very sure to cut it too long, by a large amount if necessary, rather than too short by even a little bit, because you can always cut off the slop but you can’t paste it back on again. When discrete quantities are involved, slop is often introduced to avoid the possibility of being on the losing side of a fencepost error.
2. The percentage of “extra” code generated by a compiler over the size of equivalent assembly code produced by hand-hacking; i.e. the space (or maybe time) you lose because you didn’t do it yourself. This number is often used as a measure of the quality of a compiler; slop below 5% is very good, and 10% is usually acceptable. Modern compilers, especially on RISCs, may actually have *negative* slop; that is, they may generate better code than humans. This is one of the reasons assembler programming is becoming less common.
[Jargon File]
(1995-05-28)