Sluys

Meanings

1. 1proper nounproper

   A former harbor town in Flanders, now part of the Dutch town of Sluis, near the Belgian border.

   Grammar: Used as a name, so it takes no article: we say 'the battle of Sluys', not 'the Sluys'.

   Patterns

   • the battle of Sluys
   • the port of Sluys
   • Sluys in Flanders

   In the fourteenth century Sluys was one of the busiest harbors on the North Sea coast.

   The old town of Sluys lost its access to the sea when the inlet silted up.

   Historians still argue about how many ships were lost at Sluys.

2. 2proper nounpropermilitary

   The naval battle fought near that town in 1340, an early English victory in the Hundred Years' War.

   Grammar: Usually written with 'the battle of' in front; on its own, 'Sluys' can mean the battle in a history text.

   Patterns

   • the Battle of Sluys
   • at Sluys
   • win at Sluys

   The Battle of Sluys gave the English control of the Channel for a time.

   At Sluys the French fleet was largely destroyed in a single day.

   A chapter on Sluys opens the book about medieval sea warfare.

3. 3nouncountablerareold-fashioned

   A variant spelling of 'sluice', a channel with a gate that controls the flow of water.

   Grammar: Rare and old-fashioned; modern texts almost always spell it 'sluice'.

   Patterns

   • open the sluys
   • a sluys gate

   The old maps mark several sluys along this stretch of the river.

   Water rushed through the sluys when the gate was raised.

Common combinations

the Battle of Sluys

The Battle of Sluys is often studied as an early example of naval tactics.

the port of Sluys

The port of Sluys traded with England, Scotland and the Baltic.

the harbor at Sluys

Ships waited in the harbor at Sluys for a favorable wind.

the battle fought at Sluys

The battle fought at Sluys in 1340 changed the balance at sea.

the decline of Sluys

The decline of Sluys began when the channel leading to it filled with sand.

Synonyms and how they differ

Sluis

The modern Dutch name of the same place; use this spelling for present-day references and 'Sluys' for the medieval town and the battle.

Commonly confused: Sluys or sluice? Sluys or Suez?

Practice

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