slide

Etymology

From Middle English sliden, from Old English slīdan (“to slide”), from Proto-Germanic *slīdaną (“to slide, glide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“to slip”). Cognate with Old High German slītan (“to slide”) (German schlittern), Middle Low German slīden (“to slide”), Middle Dutch slīden (“to slide”) (Dutch slijderen, frequentative of now obsolete slijden).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slaɪd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪd

Verb

slide (third-person singular simple present slides, present participle sliding, simple past slid, past participle slid or (archaic) slidden)

1. (ergative) To (cause to) move in continuous contact with a surface

   He slid the boat across the grass.

   The safe slid slowly.

   Snow slides down the side of a mountain.

2. (intransitive) To move on a low-friction surface.

   The car slid on the ice.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Waller:

     They bathe in summer, and in winter slide.

3. (intransitive, baseball) To drop down and skid into a base.

   Jones slid into second.

4. (intransitive) To lose one’s balance on a slippery surface.

   He slid while going around the corner.

5. (transitive) To pass or put imperceptibly; to slip.

   to slide in a word to vary the sense of a question

6. (intransitive, obsolete) To pass inadvertently.
   • Bible, Eccles. xxviii. 26

     Beware thou slide not by it.

7. (intransitive) To pass along smoothly or unobservedly; to move gently onward without friction or hindrance.

   A ship or boat slides through the water.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Dryden:

     Ages shall slide away without perceiving.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Alexander Pope:

     Parts answering parts shall slide into a whole.

8. (music) To pass from one note to another with no perceptible cessation of sound.
9. To pass out of one's thought as not being of any consequence.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Chaucer:

     With good hope let he sorrow slide.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Philip Sidney:

     With a calm carelessness letting everything slide.

Noun

A slide (item of play equipment)

Photographic slide frames for mounting 35 mm film for use in a slide projector

slide (plural slides)

1. An item of play equipment that children can climb up and then slide down again.

   The long, red slide was great fun for the kids.

2. A surface of ice, snow, butter, etc. on which someone can slide for amusement or as a practical joke.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Charles Dickens to this entry?)

3. The falling of large amounts of rubble, earth and stones down the slope of a hill or mountain; avalanche.

   The slide closed the highway.

4. An inclined plane on which heavy bodies slide by the force of gravity, especially one constructed on a mountainside for conveying logs by sliding them down.
5. A mechanism consisting of a part which slides on or against a guide.
6. The act of sliding; smooth, even passage or progress.

   a slide on the ice

   • Francis Bacon

     A better slide into their business.

   • 2011 January 23, Alistair Magowan, “Blackburn 2 - 0 West Brom”, in BBC‎:

     But for West Brom it was further evidence they are struggling to arrest a slide down the table where they are now three points above the relegation zone after their sixth loss in seven league matches.

7. A lever that can be moved in two directions.
8. A valve that works by sliding, such as in a trombone.
9. A transparent plate bearing an image to be projected to a screen.
10. (sciences) A flat, usually rectangular piece of glass or similar material on which a prepared sample may be viewed through a microscope Generally referred to as a microscope slide.
11. (baseball) The act of dropping down and skidding into a base
12. (music, guitar) A hand-held device made of smooth, hard material, used in the practice of slide guitar.
13. (traditional Irish music and dance) A lively dance from County Kerry, in 12/8 time.
14. (geology) A small dislocation in beds of rock along a line of fissure.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dana to this entry?)

15. (music) A grace consisting of two or more small notes moving by conjoint degrees, and leading to a principal note either above or below.
16. (phonetics) A sound which, by a gradual change in the position of the vocal organs, passes imperceptibly into another sound.
17. A clasp or brooch for a belt, etc.
18. (footwear) A shoe that is backless and open-toed.
19. (speech therapy) A voluntary stutter used as a technique to control stuttering in one's speech.

Anagrams

• Diels, Seidl, delis, idles, leids, sidle, siled, sleid

Etymology

Borrowed from English slide.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /iz.ˈlaj.d͡ʒi/, /ˈslajd͡ʒ/, /ˈzlajd͡ʒ/, /ˈslajd/

Noun

slide m (plural slides)

1. slide (transparent image for projecting)

   Synonyms: transparência, diapositivo

2. slide (a frame in a slideshow)
3. (music) slide (device for playing slide guitar)
4. (music) slide (guitar technique where the player moves finger up or down the fretboard)