Slough

 WORD OF THE DAY

slough / verb / SLUFF

Definition
1: the cast-off skin of a snake
2: a mass of dead tissue separating from an ulcer
3: something that may be shed or cast off
4a: to become shed or cast off
4b: to cast off one's skin
4c: to separate in the form of dead tissue from living tissue
5: to crumble slowly and fall away
6a: to get rid of or discard as irksome, objectionable, or disadvantageous —usually used with off
6b: to dispose of (a losing card in bridge) by discarding

Examples
"Use the scrub once or twice a week to slough off dead skin cells for smoother skin."
— Lindsay Tigar, The Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times, 23 Jan. 2022

Did You Know?
There are two verbs spelled slough in English, as well as two nouns, and both sets have different pronunciations.
The first noun, referring to a swamp or a discouraged state of mind, is pronounced to rhyme with either blue or cow; it derives from Old English slōh, which is akin to a Middle High German slouche, meaning "ditch."
Its related verb, which can mean "to plod through mud," has the same pronunciation.
The second noun, pronounced to rhyme with cuff, refers to the shed skin of a snake (as well as anything else that has been cast off).
Its related verb describes the action of shedding or eliminating something, just like a snake sheds its skin.
This slough derives from Middle English slughe and is distantly related to slūch, a Middle High German word meaning "snakeskin."