slither
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English slitheren, alteration of slideren (“to slither, creep”), from Old English slidrian (“to slip, slide, slither”), from Proto-West Germanic *slidrōn (“to slide, slither”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“to slip”), equivalent to slide + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch slidderen (“to slip, wriggle, slither”), German schlittern (“to slither, skid”). More at slide.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
slither (third-person singular simple present slithers, present participle slithering, simple past and past participle slithered)
- (intransitive) To move about smoothly and from side to side.
- (intransitive) To slide
- 2003, J. Flash, An American Savage:
- I bent down and with both hands I scooped up as much of this pissshit as I could. The green and brown clump felt like Jello as it dripped down all over my clothes. It was slithering through inbetween[sic] my fingers.
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Adjective[edit]
slither
Noun[edit]
slither (uncountable)
- A limestone rubble.
- (nonstandard, see usage notes) A sliver.
Usage notes[edit]
The use of slither to mean sliver, which is prevalent especially in Britain (where th-fronting is becoming more and more prevalent), is considered by many to be an error, though at least one major dictionary merely labels it "informal" [1].
See also[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sleydʰ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms suffixed with -er (verbal frequentative)
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪðə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɪðə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English terms with archaic senses
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English nonstandard terms
- English frequentative verbs