Slander \Slan"der\, n. [OE. sclandere, OF. esclandre, esclandle, escandre, F. esclandre, fr. L. scandalum, Gr. ??? a snare, stumbling block, offense, scandal; probably originally, the spring of a trap, and akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap. See {Scan}, and cf. {Scandal}.] 1. A false tale or report maliciously uttered, tending to injure the reputation of another; the malicious utterance of defamatory reports; the dissemination of malicious tales or suggestions to the injury of another.
Whether we speak evil of a man to his face or behind his back; the former way, indeed, seems to be the most generous, but yet is a great fault, and that which we call ``reviling;'' the latter is more mean and base, and that which we properly call ``slander'', or ``Backbiting.'' --Tillotson.
[We] make the careful magistrate The mark of slander. --B. Jonson.
2. Disgrace; reproach; dishonor; opprobrium.
Thou slander of thy mother's heavy womb. --Shak.
3. (Law) Formerly, defamation generally, whether oral or written; in modern usage, defamation by words spoken; utterance of false, malicious, and defamatory words, tending to the damage and derogation of another; calumny. See the Note under {Defamation}. --Burril.
Slander \Slan"der\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Slandered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Slandering}.] 1. To defame; to injure by maliciously uttering a false report; to tarnish or impair the reputation of by false tales maliciously told or propagated; to calumniate.
O, do not slander him, for he is kind. --Shak.
2. To bring discredit or shame upon by one's acts.
Tax not so bad a voice To slander music any more than once. --Shak.
Syn: To asperse; defame; calumniate; vilify; malign; belie; scandalize; reproach. See {Asperse}.
If people actually read this book thoroughly they'll only discover that Mr. Speakes came up with not just one or two indiscretions against his former employer, but 313 pages of gossip and slander.
Sarney, who by law cannot run for re-election, said he will sue the candidate for slander.
Afridi dismisses the allegations as a baseless slander campaign conducted by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during her 20 months in power.
Pagones has threatened them with a slander suit.
He says it is politically motivated slander.
Taking the offensive, he files a multimillion-dollar slander suit against his accuser.
Breaking his silence on the unrest, Ceausescu on Wednesday blamed the weekend protests on "hooligans" incited by "a brazen campaign of slander and lies" from abroad, especially Hungary.
"To consider that this idea and program dropped from the sky, or that somebody is undertaking an overnight coup to change our course, that is slander," Gorbachev told the Congress of Russian Communists.
Anita Hill of "flat-out perjury," he was speaking with complete immunity from libel or slander lawsuits.
Since its policy with the symphony called for providing coverage for injuries stemming from libel, slander or other defamatory material, Commercial Union said it should not be liable.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 28, has slander, libel and contract interference claims and seeks at least $28 million in punitive and other damages.
Workers who sued employers for invasion of privacy, sexual harassment or slander won an average jury award of $375,000 in 1988, according to a report.
The army daily, Al-Qaddissiya, said Iraq will not heed what it called "a systematic campaign of slander launched by the British government" and will continue its efforts to acquire modern technology.
"But hostility and slander are not criticism and should not concern us," he wrote.
"It's a simple lie, slander, and revenge for the fact that Americans received us with admiration," he said before slipping into a black Volga car to be whisked into Moscow.
In the unfiled lawsuit, the twins claimed they were entitled to damages for breach of contract, fraud and slander.
Seiko, in a written statement to this newspaper, says Mr. Hall's account of the China matter is "totally wrong" and "slander."
Soviet authorities banished him after charging him with slander.
"The timber industry is fighting this issue with slander and lies," said Arbit, president of Concord Capital Management, a firm that manages a $2.08 billion stock-market portfolio for pension funds, universities and foundations.
Has Mr. Gittler never been exposed to managers who isolate and slander rivals to appropriate credit for their valuable concepts?
Former Czechoslovak Communist Party chief Alexander Dubcek has sued a longtime rival for slander stemming from the Soviet-led invasion of two decades ago, sources revealed Saturday.
Mr. Buckhantz has dropped the slander suit.
Article 70 outlaws "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda." Article 190 forbids "anti-Soviet slander." "The only number we know is (those held under Article) 70, and only those in camps," Sakharov said in a telephone interview.
In response, GTE filed a slander and libel counterclaim placing blame for HSN's decline in the electronics market and stock market on its own mismanagement there.
President Kurt Waldheim today withdrew a slander suit filed against Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress, a spokesman said.
A prosecutor in Nowy Sacz in southern Poland began a slander investigation after Tyminski accused Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki of treason during a Nov. 17 campaign rally.
Albanian authorities have consistently denied any trouble in their country, describing reports of turmoil as "slander." Tzeka could not be reached by The Associated Press on Saturday.
The cable operator filed slander complaints against Mr. Gardner last week as part of its efforts to block a suit accusing it of deceptive business practices.
The court also reversed the convictions for slander of Licio Gelli, former grandmaster of the secret Propaganda Due (P-2) Masonic lodge, and financier Francesco Pazienza, sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first trial.
On May 15, Ligachev dismissed the accusations as slander and provocation and asked for an investigation.