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▪ I. slender, a. (and adv.)|ˈslɛndə(r)| Forms: α. 4–6 slendre, 5– slender (5 -yr, 6 -ar, slindir). β. 4, 6 sclendre, 5–7 sclender; 5 sklendire, 5–6 -re, 6 -ir, -ur, 5–6, 9 dial., sklender; 6 scl-, sklinder. [Of obscure origin. An AF. source appears the most probable, but Palsgrave (1530) seems to be the only evidence for a F. esclendre. Kilian's ‘Slinder, vet. Tenuis, exilis’ is not otherwise known, and his citation of ‘Ang. slender’ makes the entry of doubtful value.] I. 1. Of persons (or animals), their bodies, etc.: Not stout or fleshy; slim, spare. (Freq. implying gracefulness of form, esp. in later use.) α13..Coer de L. 3530 He is fat, and thertoo tendre, And my men are lene and slendre. 1402Hoccleve Letter of Cupid 171 Wheither his shap be outher thikke or slender. 1495Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. iv. x. 95 Colerik men be generally in the body longe and slendre. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 34 Kyng Henry was of a stature goodly, of body slender. 1601Holland Pliny I. 350 Females vsually in euery kind haue lesse & slenderer feet than males. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 132 You rub and grate your Back against the aforesaid Stone, unless you be a very slender Man. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 389 Having the body longer and more slender, the nose smaller. 1804Abernethy Surg. Obs. 210 A German..of a sickly aspect and slender make. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxiii. 300 She's slender; but these yer slender gals will bear half killin' to get their own way! 1871Figure Training 46 That most elegant female charm, a slender waist. βc1386Chaucer Prol. 587 The Reue was a sclendre colerik man. c1400Mandeville 291 Thei han a blak Hed..and the Body is sclender. c1450Merlin xiv. 227 Her flessh whitter than snowe, and was not to fatte ne to sklender. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxx. (Percy Soc.) 146 Her armes sclender and of goodly body. 1538Starkey England ii. i. 152 Though thys body be weke, sklendur, and lakkyth natural strenghth. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Digitus, Exiles digiti, sclender [fingers]. b. Denoting weakness or absence of robustness. † Also transf. of age, etc.: Tender, immature.
a1500Abraham 126 in Brome Bk. 54 To folow ȝow I am full fayn, All thow I be slendyr. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. John 44 So much the more diligently you preache him to them that be of slenderer age. 1718Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell i. xxvii. 50 Concerning his First Book..are these Two Things Remarkable,..First at what a Slender Age..it was written. 1798M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 7 His nerves are excitable, and constitution rather slender. 1848Webster Lett. (1902) 604 Not that we suppose Julia is very sick, but she is slender. 2. Of things: Small in diameter or width in proportion to length; long and thin; attenuated. αa1513Fabyan Chron. v. lxxxiii. (1811) 60 Hengyste..caused the sayd beests skyn to be cut into a small and slender thonge. 1590Greene Orl. Fur. Wks. (Rtldg.) 95/1 Seek not..To..slice the slender fillets of my life. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 245 About the bottome of the bay, where the City is slender, and free from concourse of people. 1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 126, J being the tallest slendrest letter of the alphabet. 1723Chambers tr. Le Clerc's Archit. I. 69 Roundness makes it appear slenderer than it really is. 1788Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 190 The slender line, nearly four miles long, which your army must make. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. xxvi, The lighter pine-trees, over-head, Their slender length for rafters spread. 1876Smiles Sc. Natur. iv. (ed. 4) 69 They squeaked like mice, and hung to..the slenderest twigs. β1521Fisher Serm. agst. Luther ii. Wks. (1876) 324 Faythe withouten hope is a sklender beme & of a lytle power. 1563Shute Archit. F j b, The higher they stand, the lesser or sklenderer they muste be. 3. a. Having little thickness or solidity in proportion to extent of surface; slight or slim in size or structure.
1444Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 219 Hows of this snayl, the wallys wer nat stronge, A slender shelle. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 27 b, One [cannon] beyng weake and slender, brake in peces, and..slewe the kyng. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 194 Vnder a sclender veale of counterfeat liberalitie. 1655M. Carter Honor Rediv. Ep. Ded., That I have preferred so slender a Volume to Your Honorable Patronage [etc.]. 1665Phil. Trans. I. 44 Striking through the slender partition of the Coal-wall. 1715tr. Pancirollus' Rerum Mem. I. ii. vii. 83 They were wont to slice their Marble into slender Pieces. 1836W. Irving Astoria III. 123 They launched forth in their canoes, but soon found that the river had not depth sufficient even for such slender barks. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxii. 43 If a slender nail hath nipt his bloom. 1875Manning Mission Holy Ghost Pref. p. vii, Nearly ten years ago I dedicated to you a very slender book. †b. Of a thin consistency. Obs. rare.
1528Paynell Salerne's Regim. F iij b, Wattrishe wine..whose liquor is as sklender as water. 1635Swan Spec. M. v. §2 (1643) 130 The aire and water are clean, thin, and slender. c. Of vowels: Narrow, close.
1755Johnson Dict., Gram., A has three sounds, the slender, open, and broad. 1821O'Reilly Irish Dict. 1/2 The rule of writing a slender with a slender, and a broad with a broad vowel. 1828Walker Pron. Dict. 19/1 The slender a, or that heard in lane. 1889Cent. Dict. s.v. Broad. 4. Of small extent, size, or capacity.
1610Holland Camden's Brit. 463 Bretenham a very slender little towne. 1614J. Norden Labyrinth Man's Life L iij b, Of slender sparke ariseth mighty flame. 1669Boyle Contn. New Exper. i. (1682) 4 If the Reciever be fitly stopt, and slender enough..to let out the air at the first exuction. 1827Hood Wee Man ii, A slender space will serve my case, For I am small and thin. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 81 When a plague..Spent that slender city. II. †5. a. Moderate or deficient in power or strength. Obs.
a1400Apol. Loll. 45, I wot not þat I seid it, and mannis mynd is sclendre. 1559Morwyng Evonym. 249 The fire must be made very light and sclender, and encresed by litle and litle. 1587Turberv. Trag. Tales (1837) 174 And eke the winde so slender was To cause the ship to steare. 1657Austen Fruit Trees ii. 49 The inclinations..are then but very weake and slender. †b. Deficient in energy or vigour; lax. Obs.
1577Harrison England ii. i. (1877) i. 19 The slender demeanours of such negligent ministers. 1598J. Manwood Lawes Forest ii. (1615) 33 The slender and negligent execution of the Forest Lawes. 6. a. Of arguments, etc.: Lacking in cogency or conclusiveness; unconvincing.
a1533Frith Disput. Purgat. Prol. B j, Manye of his probacions are so slender, that they maye well be improued. 1538Starkey England i. ii. 27 Where as my resonys schal appere to you sklender and weke. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 15 This is a poore and slender argument. 1639Fuller Holy War iii. xiii, The proofs were as slender as the crimes gross. 1759B. Martin Nat. Hist. I. Wilts. 101 Though the Reasons alledged..be slender enough. b. Having a slight foundation, ground, or justification.
1562Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 52 Breuelie considering..thair titill to this thair supreme auctorite, I fand it..sclinder and licht. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1875) 15 This ys a slender coniecture; for, as honorable howses..haue borne as meane armes as Chaucer. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 73 England has very slender pretensions to this original and engaging painter. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 154 To the applause of the sincere friends of the Established Church Rochester had, indeed, very slender claims. 1886Pascoe Lond. of To-day xxxv. (ed. 3) 311 Some claim (generally of the slenderest kind). 7. Slight, small, insignificant, trifling. Used in a variety of contexts, some of which are here distinguished by separate groups of quotations. In some cases the sense approximates to that of 8. (a)1530Palsgr. 697/1 My wytte is to sklender to talke of so wayghty a mater. 1574A. L. tr. Calvin, Four Sermons D viij, We haue not yet comprehended all, for our capacitie is to sclendre. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., He has but slender Parts. 1738tr. Guazzo's Art Convers. 92, I shall have a special Regard to..those of a slender sense... I shall think I am speaking to Persons of weak Capacities. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxxvi. 285 The duke..knew the slender capacity of Suffolk. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 496 A young man of slender abilities, loose principles, and violent temper. 1879Geo. Eliot Theo. Such i. 8 Attainable by the slenderest talent. (b)1536Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 36 Their commencement of the same in such slendre and sleight sorte..hathe brought them furthe almost as slendre an answer. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Tenuiter, To reason..in a sklender style. 1641‘Smectymnuus’ Vind. Answ. §6. 77 But what a slender answer is this. 1813Scott Rokeby i. vi, Full slender answer deigned he To Oswald's anxious courtesy. (c)1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 230 To receive nothyng but as though it had been a large and high benefite, wer it in deede never so slendre. 1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) A 5 b, You will stand your Countrie but in slender stead..if you bee no schollers. 1634W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. 15 Princes are too poor, and their power too slender to afford them their full merit. 1670Cotton Espernon iii. xi. 572 The Wound..was not to be clos'd by so slender a Remedy. 1779J. Moore View of France (1789) I. ii. 11 They generally afford but a slender entertainment. 1809Malkin Gil Blas i. xi. ⁋6 The anticipation of my slenderest wishes was his..study. 1837Palgrave Merch. & Friar (1844) Ded. p. i, A production possessing such slender attractions. a1866Grote Ethical Fragm. iv. (1876) 96 A child feels that he has not the slenderest power of acting upon the fears of others. (d)1686J. Scott Christian Life I. ii. iii. 87 The Slenderest probability will Sway their Understanding to vote [etc.]. a1704T. Brown Ess. Late Politicks Wks. 1711 IV. 102 The slender Prospect we have of Success in the War against France. 1856Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 80 Proof of what slender grounds there are for calling Raleigh ‘suspected’. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 56 Their only hope, however slender, was in victory. †b. Of persons in respect of station or capacity.
1548Udall Erasm. Par. Luke ii. 32 Be thei neuer so slender or lowe of degree. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. lxxii. 4 Not without cause dooth God take more charge of the slenderer sorte, whiche are moste subjecte too wrong and violence. 1651Rec. Communion §7 The abler sort of people, for the good example of the slender ones. 8. Small or limited in amount, number, range, etc.
1564Haward Eutrop. ii. 12 Although their wealth and substaunce was as yet but very sclender. 1587Turberv. Trag. Tales 83 b, A iewell of no slender price. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. (1821) 146 This Armie is but very slender. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 373 In the plains then it never rains, all they ever have is a dew, which is so slender it never wets at all. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. iii. 150 Their stock of provisions..was extremely slender. 1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 283 The land is rich, but coarse,..and produces slender crops. 1825Lamb Elia ii. Barbara S―, Her slender earnings were the sole support of the family. 1852Thackeray Esmond ii. iii, Taking the young gentleman's slender baggage. b. Of sounds: Weak, lacking in fullness.
1784Cowper Task vi. 78 The redbreast warbles still, but is content With slender notes, and more than half suppress'd. 1820Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 48 A very callow brood, chirping their slender notes. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) II. 170 It gave one little slender squeak. 1859― Marble Faun iv, Hilda with her slender scream. 9. †a. Of poor quality; meagre; lacking ‘body’. Obs. rare.
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 22 A slendar and leuell ground, subiect to the water, would be fyrst plowed in the ende of August. Ibid. 45 The Pastures that lyes by the Lakes of Dumone..are but sclender. b. Poorly supplied. rare—1.
c1700Philips (J.), The good Ostorius often deign'd To grace my slender table. 10. As adv. In a slender manner; slightly. rare.
1581Mulcaster Positions iv. (1887) 20, I could wishe the wittier child, the lesse vpon the spurre,..or the sklenderer kept at it. 1743Lond. & C. Brewer ii. (ed. 2) 88 Pale Malt has certainly most of the Grain in it, as being slenderest dry'd, and is therefore most nourishing. III. 11. In specific uses, chiefly in the names of animals, fishes, plants, etc. (see quots.). Shaw (1802–4) also gives Slender Cæcilia, Fistularia, Hydrus, Snake, Sparus. Rennie (1832) has Slender Gold Tongue and Treble Bar as moth-names; also Livid, Nebulous, Rufous (etc.) Slender. (a)
1829Griffith tr. Cuvier VIII. 583 *Slender Bill Tern, Sterna Tenuirostris.
1859H. T. Stainton Brit. Butterfl. & M. II. 1 Their ample wings, compared to the size of their bodies, have procured for them [sc. the Geometrina] the designation of *Slender-bodies, by contrast with the Noctuina and Bombycina, termed Stout-bodied moths.
1896H. O. Forbes Hand-bk. Primates I. 208 The *Slender Capuchin. Cebus flavus.
1894–5Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. III. 60 The *slender dolphin is a spotted species from the Atlantic and the Cape of Good Hope.
1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 260 The *Slender Goby, gobius gracilis.
1834McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 50 The Lazy Monkeys..The second species is called the *Slender Loris, Lemur gracilis. 1880Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 247 The Slender Loris is very common in the lower country of the south and east of Ceylon. 1893Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. I. 231 The Slender Loris..is the sole species of the genus to which it belongs.
Ibid. 469 In South Africa..we have also a much smaller species, the *slender mungoose.
1865Couch Brit. Fishes IV. 216 *Slender Salmon, Salmo gracilis.
1893Lydekker Roy. Nat. Hist. I. 153 The *Slender Sapajou (Cebus pallidus)..inhabiting Bolivia.
1896Ibid. V. 491 The earliest allies of the herring tribe seem to be the extinct *slender-scales (Leptolepididæ). (b)1855Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 291 Thread Rush, or Slender Rush. Ibid. 297 Slender Spreading Rush. 1859― Brit. Grasses 23 Slender Cotton-grass. Ibid. 56 Slender Fox-tail. 1889J. H. Maiden Useful Pl. 71 Agrostis scabra, Slender Bent Grass. Ibid. 95 Oplismenus setarius, Slender Panic Grass. 12. Comb. a. Parasynthetic, as slender-finned, slender-flowered, slender-footed, etc., frequently in the specific names of animals, plants, etc.
1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 306 *Slender-finned Flounder.
1796Withering Brit. Pl. (ed. 3) III. 699 *Slender-flowered Thistle.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. xxxii. 335 The *slender-footed Cicindelidæ.
1896H. Woodward Guide Fossil Reptiles Brit. Mus. 6 The old type of long and *slender-jawed Teleosaurs.
1851Mantell Petrifactions ii. §2. 82 Numerous *slender-jointed simple tentacula.
1793Martyn Lang. Bot. s.v., A *slender-leaved plant. 1889‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right (1899) 130/1 The foliage of the slender-leaved eucalypti showed a tinge of softer green.
1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1756) I. 320 Colts that are *slender legg'd.
1663Cowley Pindarique Odes, To Mr. Hobs iv, The Caspian, And *slender-limb'd Mediterranean. 1894Pop. Sc. Monthly XLIV. 500 These slender-limbed..Caucasians are..temperate.
1831Griffith tr. Cuvier IX. 104 The *slender-muzzled Crocodile.
1882Contemp. Rev. Aug. 310 The *slender-nosed rhinoceros.
1872Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 3 A *slender-shafted Pine Lost footing, fell, and so was whirl'd away.
1822Hortus Anglicus II. 115 *Slender-spiked Phryma.
Ibid. 401 *Slender stalked Star Wort.
1858Hawthorne Fr. & Ital. Note-bks. (1872) I. 4 *Slender-stemmed trees. 1882Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 936 In the genus Vicia..all the slender-stemmed species have leaf-tendrils.
1832Rennie Butterfl. & M. 278/1 *Slender-striped Rufous.
1827Griffith tr. Cuvier V. 82 Pouched Bat and *Slender-tailed Bat.
Ibid. 126 note, The *Slender-toed Weasel.
1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4891/4 A fair, clear skin'd Woman,..and *slender Waisted. 1848Buckley Iliad 425 Slender-waisted women.
1647J. Trapp Comm. Acts i. 18 Papias..was..a *slender-witted man. b. Adverbial, as slender-growing, slender-twined.
1616J. Hayward Sanct. Troub. Soul i. vii. (1620) 105 The slender-twined thred of this life. 1901Gard. Chron. 16 Mar. 173/1 Cytisus filipes, a slender-growing species with tiny white flowers. ▪ II. ˈslender, v. [f. prec.] a. trans. To attenuate.
1559Morwyng Evonym. 343 Thou maiest gather that whiche oyl strengtheneth, digesteth, and sclendereth. 1965H. Porter Cats of Venice 81 These shape-gripping cheong sams had slendered them to elegance. b. intr. To become narrower, to narrow. Also with down.
1871G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 13 And slendering to his burning rim Into the flat blue mist the sun Drops out and all our day is done. 1955E. Bowen World of Love iii. 55 Her strong forearms, which slendered down..to the wrists. |