slipperyadj.

/ˈslɪpəri/

Forms: Also 1500s slypery, slepery, 1500s–1600s slyppery, slipperie; 1600s sliperye.

Etymology: Alteration of slipper adj., possibly after Low German slipperig (German dialect schlipperig), = Middle High German slipferic, slipfrig (German dialect schlipferig).

a. Having a smooth, polished, or slimy surface which renders foothold insecure.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [adjective] > smooth and slippery > specific on which one may slip

sliddera1000

slidderya1250

slipperc1290

slidingc1325

slithera1340

glintc1475

slippery1535

slippy1548

sliddy1623

slidy1880

skiddy1902

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xxxiv. 6 Let their waye be darcke and slippery.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. v. sig. Q6 But foolish Mayd..Through slipperie footing, fell into the brooke.

1623 J. Bingham tr. Xenophon Hist. 65 The Riuer rough with many great and slipperie stones.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 168 Many steep and slippery places to be climb'd up.

1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. Sept. (1965) I. 435 The Descent is..steep and slippery.

a1785 J. W. Fletcher Posthumous Pieces (1791) 269 I..ride out every day when the slippery roads will permit me.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. i. 9 Forming a slippery and precarious passage for two men abreast to cross the moat.

1871 L. Stephen Playground of Europe ii. 78 The rocks were steep and slippery.

b. In figurative contexts.

ΚΠ

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. i. sig. Ii4^v The ground he stood vpon being..slipperie through affection, he could not hold himselfe from falling into such an error.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 631 Bloud is a slippery foundation, and pillage a pill'd wall.

1654 Z. Coke Art of Logick Ep. Ded. sig. a6 Greatness without goodness is a slippery height.

1707 J. Norris Pract. Treat. Humility x. 396 The more slippery the ground is, the more circumspectly should we walk.

1789 W. Belsham Ess. I. vii. 132 [He] will find the ground upon which he stands very unstable and slippery.

1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus ii. i. 50 Does it disappoint thee To find there is a slipperier step or two Than what was counted on?

1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 273 He speedily made his mark, and climbed higher and higher up the slippery tree.

c. slippery slope figurative, a course leading to disaster or destruction.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition > course leading to

death spiral1948

slippery slope1951

the world > action or operation > behaviour > [noun] > (a) course of conduct or action > specific

highwaya1393

high road1613

tram-road1859

slippery slope1951

1951 J. Fleming Man who looked Back x. 132 You go off down the slippery slope; it'll do you good.

1964 Daily Tel. 6 Jan. 12/2 While Western feet thus approach what some fear may be a ‘slippery slope’ towards recognition of the East, Ulbricht's ground seems as firm as ever it was.

1979 N. Lash Theol. on Dover Beach iv. 74 It could be argued..that to give priority to love, to trust, to action, to commitment, is to start down the slippery slope along which rationality, objectivity and—eventually—truth are abandoned.

a. Of a soft oily or greasy consistency; having a smooth surface, so as to slip or slide easily; slipping readily from any hold or grasp.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > constitution of matter > oiliness or greasiness > [adjective] > of the nature of oil > oily and slippery

sliddera1000

slippera1050

fugitivec1485

slippery1551

lubricous1659

soapy1732

saponaceous1837

lubricate1848

fugacious1872

the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [adjective] > smooth and slippery

slippera1050

slibbery?c1225

slidderya1250

slidder1398

lubric1490

slid1513

slippery1551

icy?1552

slipperous1585

glib1594

gliding1594

slicked1594

glibbery1601

lubrical1602

slape1671

slithery1825

slithy1855

butter-smooth1868

slick1901

1551 W. Turner New Herball sig. B i The hole herbe is very sleymy and full of a slepery iuice [pr. -nuce].

1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 84^v The chiefest that is marked in the Ele is that it is slipperie.

1617 J. Woodall Surgions Mate 163 A good strong Lixiuium made with fresh water & ashes till it be slippery.

1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xiii. 88 The Line..being rubbed over with soft Sope to make it slippery.

1738 in J. Keill Ess. Animal Oecon. (ed. 4) Pref. p. x The different Junctures of the Bones,..which are slippery and exceedingly moveable.

1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 869 Leaf oblong, indented, slippery.

1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 158 The maiden dreamt That..this diamond..was too slippery to be held.

1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems xc. 6 Melting lapt in flame fatly the slippery caul.

b. Of persons: Able to slip away or escape easily; difficult to catch or hold.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > safety > escape > [adjective] > taking evasive action > elusive

slippery1573

epileptical1646

elusive1725

1573 G. Harvey Schollers Loove in Let.-bk. (1884) 126 Mye very mistrisse..Moughte yit be woon agayne, like a slippery elfe.

1663 A. Cowley Ess. in Verse & Prose (1669) 13 Harvey was with her there, And held this slippery Proteus in a chain.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 140 The slipp'ry God will try to loose his hold.

1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 204 Before he could seize him, however, the slippery savage, eluding his grasp, was bounding through the trees.

†c. Of the bowels: Lax, loose, open. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > defecation > [adjective] > relaxed condition of bowels

laxc1400

solublec1400

laskc1460

loose1508

laxative1546

loose-bellied1565

slippery1597

1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 242 By moistning of the belly it maketh it the more slipperie.

1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. ii. 129 Cinnabar of Antimony..seldom keeps the Bowels slippery.

d. slippery elm n. the North American red elm, Ulmus fulva, or the inner bark of this, used medicinally; also, a Californian shrub, Fremontia californica, with similar bark. Cf. red elm n. at red adj. and n. Compounds 1e(d).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > elms > [noun]

wycheOE

elmc1000

ulm-treec1000

witch hazela1400

all-heart1567

ulme1567

white elm1580

wych elm1582

witchen1594

weeping elm1606

trench-elm1676

smooth-leaved elm1731

witch elm1731

water elm1733

slippery elm1748

Scotch elm1769

wahoo1770

American elm1771

red elm1805

witches' elm1808

moose elm1810

cork-elm1813

rock elm1817

swamp elm1817

planer tree1819

Jersey elm1838

winged elm1858

sand elm1878

Exeter-elm1882

the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > medicine composed of a plant > [noun] > plant used in medicine > specific barks

mezereona1500

cortex1680

Jesuits' bark1694

tellicherry bark1734

slippery elm1748

white cinnamon1751

mezereum1754

canella1756

royal bark1794

cinchona1800

rohun bark1820

false Winter's bark1830

calisaya bark1837

mezereon bark1837

Suriname bark1844

carony bark1853

Honduras bark1881

1748 D. Drake Let. 1 Jan. in Pioneer Life Kentucky (1870) iv. 73 Of the whole forest the red or slippery elm was the best.

1780 W. Fleming Jrnl. 20 Mar. in N. D. Mereness Trav. Amer. Colonies (1916) 640 Bear fat is preserved sweet and pure by putting in a bunch of the Slippery Elem [sic] bark into it when rendering.

1810 F. A. Michaux Histoire des Arbres Forestiers de l'Amérique Septentrionale I. 39 Red elm,..Slippery elm,..Moose elm,..dans le haut de l'Etat de New York.

1824 J. Torrey Flora Northern & Middle U.S. I. 299 Slippery Elm, Red Elm.

1879 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 152 The bark of..the Slippery or Red Elm of the United States and Canada.

e. In names of fishes: (see quots.).

ΚΠ

1876 G. B. Goode Catal. Fishes Bermudas 48 The ‘Slippery Dick’ and the ‘Skip-jack’ of the fishermen probably belong to this family.

1880–4 F. Day Fishes Great Brit. & Ireland I. 318 Whistler or whistle-fish,..slippery-Jemmy, Dalkey, Dublin Bay.

1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 188 The Slippery Sole—Glyptocephalus pacificus.

f. slippery iron, a tough, moderately hard variety of iron capable of being polished to a great slipperiness of surface.

ΚΠ

1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Slippery Iron, a mixture of cast iron specially prepared for engine cylinders, cylinder liners, slide blocks, and moving surfaces generally.

a. Of conditions, affairs, etc.: Unstable, uncertain, insecure; that cannot be relied upon as lasting or assured. (Cf. 1b.)

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > unreliability > [adjective]

unsicker?c1225

uncertaina1382

unsadc1384

untristya1387

untrustya1387

unsurec1412

falliblec1425

slipperc1430

ficklea1450

frivol1488

slidder?a1500

casuala1535

slippery1548

slippy1548

failable1561

doubtful1562

lubricious1584

slope1587

queasy1589

unconfirmedc1592

nice1598

catching1603

loose1603

precary1606

ambiguous1612

treacherous1612

unsafe1615

unsureda1616

precarious1626

lubric1631

dubious1635

lubricous1646

unestablished1646

unfixed1654

unsecure?a1685

unreliable1810

unproven1836

untrustworthy1846

shady1848

wobbly1877

Kaffir1899

independable1921

dodgy1961

temperamental1962

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus 1 Pet. in Paraphr. New Test. 2 Rewardes that are transitory and wage that is slyppery.

1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 1 In so slipperi a case as I am, I am enforcid to do as I do.

a1630 F. Moryson in Shakespeare's Europe (1903) i. i. 13 Were not this high estate of his very slipperye, and subiect to sodaine destruction.

1632 Strafford in Browning & Forster Life (1891) 302 To hold him faste by the sliperye ties of feare and strained professions.

1704 J. Trapp Abra-Mule i. i O slipp'ry State Of Human pleasures.

1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 341 That their future fidelity in a slippery concern might be established.

1855 A. Bain Senses & Intellect ii. ii. 525 The logical caution..is still more requisite in the slippery regions of analogy.

1872 W. Bagehot Physics & Polit. (1876) 24 An aggregate of families owning even a slippery allegiance to a single head.

†b. Of knowledge: Inexact, imperfect. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > [adjective] > of ideas, etc.

slippery1584

lax1671

latitudinous1838

1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus Famous Hyst. ii. f. 81^v Not contented with a slippery knowledge, but mooued with desire to learne the truth.

a. Of persons: Inclined to be fickle or faithless; not to be depended on; shifty, deceitful.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [adjective]

slipperc1000

hinderc1200

slidderya1250

covert1340

unwrast1393

slyc1440

slippery1555

fetching1570

shifting1581

as slippery as an eel1601

roundabout1608

corner-creeping1610

shuffling1616

prevaricatory1645

prevaricative1657

sliverly1674

whifflinga1680

sneak-pasty1681

slid1719

evasive1725

shauchling1755

shifty1837

slab-bridged1845

sneaky1861

pussy-footed1893

sidewinding1902

slithery1902

pussyfooting1926

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > unreliability > [adjective] > of persons

slipperc1000

ficklea1275

untristya1387

flickering1430

untrusty1430

slidingc1435

unsurec1445

untraistc1485

unassure1531

slippery1555

untraisty1567

untrustful1569

unresponsable1619

uncanny1639

fair-weather1677

unresponsible1764

independable1802

unreliable1810

untrustworthy1846

undependable1860

incalculable1876

slithery1902

wonky1919

doubtful1925

1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. ix. f. 44^v Women are slippery cattayle.

1590 R. Greene Neuer too Late i. 10 Some of them are as Sapho was, subtile to allure, & slippery to deceiue.

1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. iii. i. 246 That most false and slipperie man..was betraid into the hands of Sulla.

1679 T. Oates True Narr. Horrid Plot 10 But the Deponent standing by, said, what if the Duke should prove slippery!

1753 S. Foote Englishman in Paris i. 13 He's a slippery Chap, you know.

1805 W. Scott in J. Lockhart Mem. Life Sir W. Scott 12 Apr. He is hard and slippery, so settle your bargain fast and firm.

1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xxvi. 248 By degrees this slippery penitent was induced to make other confessions.

1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxii. 378 The slippery politicians in the capital were on the watch.

b. Of actions, etc.: Characterized by shiftiness, deceitfulness, or want of sincerity.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [adjective] > of actions, words, etc.

sly1387

sinister?1455

slippery1579

shuffling1644

evasorious1687

evasive1744

shiftya1863

1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Sept. 200 Long time he vsed this slippery pranck.

1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia ii. sig. C7 She Will one day shew thee a touch as slippery.

1665 C. Cotton Scarronnides 61 Th' slippery trick he meant to play her.

1712 J. Warder True Amazons 145 Not knowing what a slippery Trick you have plaid them.

1861 W. M. Thackeray Four Georges iii. 144 He exercised a slippery perseverance, and a vindictive resolution.

1872 M. Creighton Hist. Ess. (1902) ii. 84 Some..refer all his slippery actions to a sincere desire for the good of Christendom.

c. Proverbial phrase as slippery as an eel. Cf. eel n. 1c.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [adjective]

slipperc1000

hinderc1200

slidderya1250

covert1340

unwrast1393

slyc1440

slippery1555

fetching1570

shifting1581

as slippery as an eel1601

roundabout1608

corner-creeping1610

shuffling1616

prevaricatory1645

prevaricative1657

sliverly1674

whifflinga1680

sneak-pasty1681

slid1719

evasive1725

shauchling1755

shifty1837

slab-bridged1845

sneaky1861

pussy-footed1893

sidewinding1902

slithery1902

pussyfooting1926

society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > unfaithfulness > [adjective] > untrustworthy

trustless1554

as slippery as an eel1601

independable1802

unreliable1810

undependable1860

untrustworthy1878

wrong1908

c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (1897) 1985 Mi wit is also slipir as an eel.

1555 J. Heywood Two Hundred Epigrammes with Thyrde sig. E.i Slyper as an eeles tayle is the holde of it.]

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. ix. xx. 247 All that be long and slipperie as Yeels and Congres.

1622 S. Rowlands Good Newes & Bad Newes sig. B1^v Fie vpon giddie Fortune, and her wheele, Vnconstant, and as slipperie as an Eele.

1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxxi. 245 You'll find her as slippery as an Eel, I'll assure you.

1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. xvii. 209 He's as slippery as an eel, he is. He's like a cat,—as sleek, and cunning.

1914 T. Dreiser Titan xxvi. 220 I am morally certain he uses money to get what he is after as freely as a fireman uses water. He's as slippery as an eel.

1980 J. Gardner Garden of Weapons ii. i. 128 He's big, but slippery as an eel.

5. Licentious, wanton, unchaste; of doubtful morality.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > [adjective]

golec888

canga1225

light?c1225

wooinga1382

nicea1387

riota1400

wantonc1400

wrenec1400

lachesc1450

loose?a1500

licentious1555

libertine1560

prostitute1569

riggish1569

wide1574

slipper1581

slippery1586

sportive1595

gay1597

Cyprian1598

suburb1598

waggish1600

smicker1606

suburbian1606

loose-living1607

wantona1627

free-living1632

libertinous1632

loose-lived1641

Corinthian1642

akolastic1656

slight1685

fast1699

freea1731

brisk1740

shy1787

slang1818

randomc1825

fastish1832

loosish1846

slummya1860

velocious1872

fly1880

slack1951

1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 507 He shall cause hir..to become slipperie and lasciuious.

1592 R. Greene Disput. Conny-catcher sig. E4 I giue thee..a counterfect coyne, which is good inough for such a slipperie wanton.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 275 Ha' not you seene Camillo?..or heard?..or thought?.. My Wife is slipperie ?

1738 tr. S. Guazzo Art of Conversat. 54 She began to tell the slippery Pranks of the Dutchess's Gentlewomen.

1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxi. 135 A slippery Love calls lightly, but yet refrain.

1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 48 Unnecessary and slippery luxuries, such as drink and tobacco.

6. Liable or prone to slip; readily giving way. Also of the memory, forgetful.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]

slidinga900

wankleeOE

windyc1000

unsteadfastc1200

fleeting?c1225

loose?c1225

brotelc1315

unstablec1340

varyingc1340

variantc1374

motleyc1380

ungroundedc1380

muablea1393

passiblea1393

remuablea1393

changeablea1398

movablea1398

variablec1397

slidderya1400

ticklec1400

variantc1412

flitting1413

mutable?a1425

movingc1425

flaskisable1430

flickering1430

transmutablec1430

vertible1447

brittlea1450

ficklea1450

permutablec1450

unfirmc1450

uncertain1477

turnable1483

unsteadfast1483

vagrantc1522

inconstant1526

alterable?1531

stirringc1540

slippery1548

various1552

slid?1553

mutala1561

rolling1561

weathery1563

unconstant1568

interchangeable1574

fluctuant1575

stayless1575

transitive1575

voluble1575

changeling1577

queasy1579

desultory1581

huff-puff1582

unstaid1586

vagrant1586

changeful1590

floating1594

Protean1594

unstayed1594

swimming1596

anchorless1597

mobilec1600

ticklish1601

catching1603

labile1603

unrooted1604

quicksilvered1605

versatile1605

insubstantial1607

uncertain1609

brandling1611

rootless1611

squeasy1611

wind-changinga1616

insolid1618

ambulatory1625

versatilous1629

plastic1633

desultorious1637

unbottomed1641

fluid1642

fluent1648

yea-and-nay1648

versipellous1650

flexile1651

uncentred1652

variating1653

chequered1656

slideable1662

transchangeative1662

weathercock-like1663

flicketing1674

fluxa1677

lapsable1678

wanton1681

veering1684

upon the weathercock1702

contingent1703

unsettled?1726

fermentable1731

afloat1757

brickle1768

wavy1795

vagarious1798

unsettled1803

fitful1810

metamorphosical1811

undulating1815

tittupya1817

titubant1817

mutative1818

papier mâché1818

teetotum1819

vacillating1822

capricious1823

sensitive1828

quicksilvery1829

unengrafted1829

fluxionala1834

proteiform1833

liquid1835

tottlish1835

kaleidoscopic1846

versative1846

kaleidoscopical1858

tottery1861

choppy1865

variative1874

variational1879

wimbly-wambly1881

fluctuable1882

shifty1882

giveable1884

shifty1884

tippy1886

mutatory1890

upsettable1890

rocky1897

undulatory1897

streaky1898

tottly1905

tipply1906

up and down1907

inertialess1927

sometimey1946

rise-and-fall1950

switchable1961

the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > [adjective] > vanishing or disappearing > liable to vanish

slippery1548

fadeable1633

volatile1655

the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > [adjective] > of memory: not retentive

short1340

slipper?a1475

unclasping1640

slippery1653

leaky1692

irretentive1749

unretentive1782

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus 1 Tim. in Paraphr. New Test. f. 14 The vowe of continencie is not to be committed vnto fraile slypperye age.

1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Ded. sig. diiij Leaste I shulde bestowe my slippery yeares in vnprofitable Idlenesse.

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 78 When they fall as being slipery standers [etc.] .

1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 107 The party is a vain babler, perfidious, and of a slippery memory.

1664 J. Evelyn Sylva (1729) xviii. 86 This profound fixing of Aquatick-trees being to preserve them steddy..in their liquid and slippery Foundations.

7. Of the tongue: Talking too freely.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [adjective] > voluble (of the tongue)

tickle1377

readya1400

aspen1532

rolling1549

rounda1568

voluble1604

well hanged1632

well-hung1648

slippery1699

1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. (at cited word) A slippery (or free) Tongue, Une Langue trop-libre, qui dit tout, qui ne cache rien.

8. look slippery = to look slippy at slippy adj.¹ 2. dialect or colloquial. rare.

ΚΠ

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiv. [Oxen of the Sun] 404 Two Ardilauns. Same here. Look slippery.

9. quasi-adv. Smartly, closely.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adverb] > with scrupulous care or attention to detail

narrowlyeOE

narrowOE

wellOE

busilyc1225

inwardly?c1225

closely1509

nearly1540

near1560

searchingly1574

nicely1597

exactly1612

strictly1632

close1642

pressly1642

scrutinously1650

minutely1690

scrupulously1712

tightly1758

keenly1824

slippery1828

meticulously1961

1828 Sporting Mag. 23 19 I found him in the yard, looking pretty slippery after the strappers.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

slippery-bellied adj.

ΚΠ

1852 ‘Nightlark’ Meanderings Mem. I. 64 Thou silvery-backed, and slippery-bellied Eel.

slippery-breeched adj.

ΚΠ

1611 L. Barry Ram-Alley iv. i She is shewing Some slippery breech'd courtier rare faces In a bay-window.

slippery-footed adj.

ΚΠ

1903 W. B. Yeats In Seven Woods 37 The hot-footed sun, And the cold sliding slippery-footed moon.

slippery-shod adj.

ΚΠ

1682 O. Heywood Autobiogr., Diaries, Anecd. & Event Bks. (1885) IV. 85 It was a frost and snow, my horse slippery shod.

slippery-tongued adj.

ΚΠ

1843 A. Bethune Sc. Peasant's Fire-side 299 By and by evidence began to appear of Jock's being tarry-fingered as well as slippery-tongued.

slippery-looking adj.

ΚΠ

1903 M. G. Gerard Leaves from Diaries viii. 262 The only approach to these is by a slippery-looking pathway.

slippery-sleek adj.

ΚΠ

a1618 J. Sylvester tr. H. Smith Map of Man in Wks. (Grosart) II. 97 Though shee simper, though shee smile,..Shee is alwayes slippery-sleeke.

C2.

slippery-back n. a West Indian skink ( Cent. Dict.).

slippery hitch n. Nautical a knot made fast by catching part of the rope beneath the bight, released at a pull on the free end; also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > knot used by sailors > specific

bowline-knot1627

clinch1627

sheepshank1627

wall-knot1627

running bowline1710

running bowline knot1726

bend1769

clove-hitch1769

half-hitch1769

hitch1769

walnut1769

cat's paw1794

midshipman's hitch1794

reef knot1794

clench1804

French shroud knot1808

carrick bend1819

bowline1823

slippery hitch1832

wall1834

Matthew Walker1841

shroud-knot1860

stopper-knotc1860

marling hitch1867

wind-knot1870

Portuguese knot1871

rosette1875

chain knota1877

stopper-hitch1876

swab-hitch1883

monkey fist1917

Spanish bowline1968

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > binding or tying > a bond, tie, or fastening > [noun] > knot > any knot used by sailors > other specific sailors' knots

bowline-knot1627

clinch1627

sheepshank1627

wall-knot1627

running bowline1710

running bowline knot1726

bend1769

clove-hitch1769

half-hitch1769

hitch1769

walnut1769

Magnus hitch1794

midshipman's hitch1794

clench1804

French shroud knot1808

carrick bend1819

bowline1823

slippery hitch1832

wall1834

cat's paw1840

Matthew Walker1841

shroud-knot1860

stopper-knotc1860

Portuguese knot1871

chain knota1877

stopper-hitch1876

swab-hitch1883

Spanish bowline1968

1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster I. xiii. 181 The monkey of a boy who made her fast..had made a ‘slippery hitch’; so away it went.

1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life vii. 273 Alf, it appeared, had left the station six or eight weeks before, bound for no-one knew where. Jack's opinion was that in so doing he had made a slippery-hitch.

1944 C. W. Ashley Bk. Knots i. 19 The Slippery Hitch is often found in the sheets and halyards of small boats.

slippery path n. = slip n.³ 1b. Also figurative, the road to disaster or destruction.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > slip on which ships built or repaired

launch1711

slip1769

shipway1840

building-slip1846

slippery path1846

1846 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 6th Ser. 167 Two temporary ‘slippery paths’ down which the vessel may slide into the river.

slippery pole n. = greasy pole n. at greasy adj. Compounds 2 (in quots. figurative).

ΚΠ

1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 20/1 The Voice had this wonderfully sobering policy of rejecting your stories right when you thought you had a firm grasp on the slippery pole.

1977 H. Greene FSO-1 xviii. 167 All of these years of clambering up the slippery pole only to find there was no top to it.

Slippery Sam n. a card game (cf. blind-hookey n. at blind adj. Compounds).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > other card games > [noun] > others

laugh and lie down1522

mack1548

decoyc1555

pinionc1557

to beat the knave out of doors1570

imperial1577

prima vista1587

loadum1591

flush1598

prime1598

thirty-perforce1599

gresco1605

hole1621

my sow's pigged1621

slam1621

fox-mine-host1622

whipperginnie1622

crimpa1637

hundred1636

pinache1641

sequence1653

lady's hole1658

quebas1668

art of memory1674

costly colours1674

penneech1674

plain dealing1674

wit and reason1680

comet1685

lansquenet1687

incertain1689

macham1689

uptails1694

quinze1714

hoc1730

commerce1732

matrimonya1743

tredrille1764

Tom come tickle me1769

tresette1785

snitch'ems1798

tontine1798

blind hazard1816

all fives1838

short cards1845

blind hookey1852

sixty-six1857

skin the lamb1864

brisque1870

handicap1870

manille1874

forty-five1875

slobberhannes1877

fifteen1884

Black Maria1885

slapjack1887

seven-and-a-half1895

pit1904

Russian Bank1915

red dog1919

fan-tan1923

Pelmanism1923

Slippery Sam1923

go fish1933

Russian Banker1937

racing demon1938

pit-a-pat1947

scopa1965

1923 L. H. Dawson Hoyle's Games Modernized i. 162 Slippery Sam is a variation of and by many considered an improvement on Blind Hookey.

1954 A. S. C. Ross in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 55 22 Solo whist..is non-U, though much ‘lower’ games (e.g. pontoon, nap and even slippery sam) are not necessarily so.

1978 C. Storr Winter's End iv. 58 The others were exclaiming and shouting at Racing Demon... They'd changed to Slippery Sam.

Draft additions 1993

Of a vehicle or its shape: creating only low air resistance; streamlined. colloquial.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [adjective] > of or relating to motor vehicles > aerodynamic

slippery1981

aero1982

1981 Pop. Hot Rodding Feb. 88/1 The reason for the tremendous gain in speed is the Monza's very slippery shape and small frontal area.

1982 Observer 31 Jan. 44/6 The new shape is obviously very slippery—the makers give a drag coefficient of 0.34.

1985 Austral. Business 4 Sept. 82/1 The company now has the world's three most aerodynamically efficient cars. The Audi, the Renault 25 and now the Vortex are the ‘slipperiest’ cars around.

1986 H. I. Andrews Railway Traction iv. 78 This difference is well known to drivers, who are accustomed to describe one type of locomotive as more slippery than another.

Draft additions June 2018

slippery dip n. Australian colloquial a children's slide, esp. in a playground or park.

ΚΠ

1917 Sydney Sportsman 17 Jan. 6/7 They went on the Slippery Dip, and Les got knocked out.

1952 Austral. Woman's Mirror 15 Oct. 28/1 We children were playing on the swings and slippery dips.

2011 C. Stinson It Takes Village 113 Jenny and the boys rode the water wheel and slid down the slippery dip too many times to count.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	slippery
释义	slipperyadj. /ˈslɪpəri/ Forms: Also 1500s slypery, slepery, 1500s–1600s slyppery, slipperie; 1600s sliperye. Etymology: Alteration of slipper adj., possibly after Low German slipperig (German dialect schlipperig), = Middle High German slipferic, slipfrig (German dialect schlipferig). 1. a. Having a smooth, polished, or slimy surface which renders foothold insecure. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [adjective] > smooth and slippery > specific on which one may slip sliddera1000 slidderya1250 slipperc1290 slidingc1325 slithera1340 glintc1475 slippery1535 slippy1548 sliddy1623 slidy1880 skiddy1902 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xxxiv. 6 Let their waye be darcke and slippery. 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. v. sig. Q6 But foolish Mayd..Through slipperie footing, fell into the brooke. View more context for this quotation 1623 J. Bingham tr. Xenophon Hist. 65 The Riuer rough with many great and slipperie stones. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant i. 168 Many steep and slippery places to be climb'd up. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. Sept. (1965) I. 435 The Descent is..steep and slippery. a1785 J. W. Fletcher Posthumous Pieces (1791) 269 I..ride out every day when the slippery roads will permit me. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. i. 9 Forming a slippery and precarious passage for two men abreast to cross the moat. 1871 L. Stephen Playground of Europe ii. 78 The rocks were steep and slippery. b. In figurative contexts. ΚΠ a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. i. sig. Ii4^v The ground he stood vpon being..slipperie through affection, he could not hold himselfe from falling into such an error. 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 631 Bloud is a slippery foundation, and pillage a pill'd wall. 1654 Z. Coke Art of Logick Ep. Ded. sig. a6 Greatness without goodness is a slippery height. 1707 J. Norris Pract. Treat. Humility x. 396 The more slippery the ground is, the more circumspectly should we walk. 1789 W. Belsham Ess. I. vii. 132 [He] will find the ground upon which he stands very unstable and slippery. 1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus ii. i. 50 Does it disappoint thee To find there is a slipperier step or two Than what was counted on? 1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 273 He speedily made his mark, and climbed higher and higher up the slippery tree. c. slippery slope figurative, a course leading to disaster or destruction. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > fall from prosperous or thriving condition > course leading to death spiral1948 slippery slope1951 the world > action or operation > behaviour > [noun] > (a) course of conduct or action > specific highwaya1393 high road1613 tram-road1859 slippery slope1951 1951 J. Fleming Man who looked Back x. 132 You go off down the slippery slope; it'll do you good. 1964 Daily Tel. 6 Jan. 12/2 While Western feet thus approach what some fear may be a ‘slippery slope’ towards recognition of the East, Ulbricht's ground seems as firm as ever it was. 1979 N. Lash Theol. on Dover Beach iv. 74 It could be argued..that to give priority to love, to trust, to action, to commitment, is to start down the slippery slope along which rationality, objectivity and—eventually—truth are abandoned. 2. a. Of a soft oily or greasy consistency; having a smooth surface, so as to slip or slide easily; slipping readily from any hold or grasp. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > constitution of matter > oiliness or greasiness > [adjective] > of the nature of oil > oily and slippery sliddera1000 slippera1050 fugitivec1485 slippery1551 lubricous1659 soapy1732 saponaceous1837 lubricate1848 fugacious1872 the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [adjective] > smooth and slippery slippera1050 slibbery?c1225 slidderya1250 slidder1398 lubric1490 slid1513 slippery1551 icy?1552 slipperous1585 glib1594 gliding1594 slicked1594 glibbery1601 lubrical1602 slape1671 slithery1825 slithy1855 butter-smooth1868 slick1901 1551 W. Turner New Herball sig. B i The hole herbe is very sleymy and full of a slepery iuice [pr. -nuce]. 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 84^v The chiefest that is marked in the Ele is that it is slipperie. 1617 J. Woodall Surgions Mate 163 A good strong Lixiuium made with fresh water & ashes till it be slippery. 1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xiii. 88 The Line..being rubbed over with soft Sope to make it slippery. 1738 in J. Keill Ess. Animal Oecon. (ed. 4) Pref. p. x The different Junctures of the Bones,..which are slippery and exceedingly moveable. 1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 869 Leaf oblong, indented, slippery. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 158 The maiden dreamt That..this diamond..was too slippery to be held. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems xc. 6 Melting lapt in flame fatly the slippery caul. b. Of persons: Able to slip away or escape easily; difficult to catch or hold. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > safety > escape > [adjective] > taking evasive action > elusive slippery1573 epileptical1646 elusive1725 1573 G. Harvey Schollers Loove in Let.-bk. (1884) 126 Mye very mistrisse..Moughte yit be woon agayne, like a slippery elfe. 1663 A. Cowley Ess. in Verse & Prose (1669) 13 Harvey was with her there, And held this slippery Proteus in a chain. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 140 The slipp'ry God will try to loose his hold. View more context for this quotation 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 204 Before he could seize him, however, the slippery savage, eluding his grasp, was bounding through the trees. †c. Of the bowels: Lax, loose, open. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > organs of excretion > defecation or urination > defecation > [adjective] > relaxed condition of bowels laxc1400 solublec1400 laskc1460 loose1508 laxative1546 loose-bellied1565 slippery1597 1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 242 By moistning of the belly it maketh it the more slipperie. 1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. ii. 129 Cinnabar of Antimony..seldom keeps the Bowels slippery. d. slippery elm n. the North American red elm, Ulmus fulva, or the inner bark of this, used medicinally; also, a Californian shrub, Fremontia californica, with similar bark. Cf. red elm n. at red adj. and n. Compounds 1e(d). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > elms > [noun] wycheOE elmc1000 ulm-treec1000 witch hazela1400 all-heart1567 ulme1567 white elm1580 wych elm1582 witchen1594 weeping elm1606 trench-elm1676 smooth-leaved elm1731 witch elm1731 water elm1733 slippery elm1748 Scotch elm1769 wahoo1770 American elm1771 red elm1805 witches' elm1808 moose elm1810 cork-elm1813 rock elm1817 swamp elm1817 planer tree1819 Jersey elm1838 winged elm1858 sand elm1878 Exeter-elm1882 the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > medicine composed of a plant > [noun] > plant used in medicine > specific barks mezereona1500 cortex1680 Jesuits' bark1694 tellicherry bark1734 slippery elm1748 white cinnamon1751 mezereum1754 canella1756 royal bark1794 cinchona1800 rohun bark1820 false Winter's bark1830 calisaya bark1837 mezereon bark1837 Suriname bark1844 carony bark1853 Honduras bark1881 1748 D. Drake Let. 1 Jan. in Pioneer Life Kentucky (1870) iv. 73 Of the whole forest the red or slippery elm was the best. 1780 W. Fleming Jrnl. 20 Mar. in N. D. Mereness Trav. Amer. Colonies (1916) 640 Bear fat is preserved sweet and pure by putting in a bunch of the Slippery Elem [sic] bark into it when rendering. 1810 F. A. Michaux Histoire des Arbres Forestiers de l'Amérique Septentrionale I. 39 Red elm,..Slippery elm,..Moose elm,..dans le haut de l'Etat de New York. 1824 J. Torrey Flora Northern & Middle U.S. I. 299 Slippery Elm, Red Elm. 1879 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 152 The bark of..the Slippery or Red Elm of the United States and Canada. e. In names of fishes: (see quots.). ΚΠ 1876 G. B. Goode Catal. Fishes Bermudas 48 The ‘Slippery Dick’ and the ‘Skip-jack’ of the fishermen probably belong to this family. 1880–4 F. Day Fishes Great Brit. & Ireland I. 318 Whistler or whistle-fish,..slippery-Jemmy, Dalkey, Dublin Bay. 1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 188 The Slippery Sole—Glyptocephalus pacificus. f. slippery iron, a tough, moderately hard variety of iron capable of being polished to a great slipperiness of surface. ΚΠ 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. Slippery Iron, a mixture of cast iron specially prepared for engine cylinders, cylinder liners, slide blocks, and moving surfaces generally. 3. a. Of conditions, affairs, etc.: Unstable, uncertain, insecure; that cannot be relied upon as lasting or assured. (Cf. 1b.) ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > unreliability > [adjective] unsicker?c1225 uncertaina1382 unsadc1384 untristya1387 untrustya1387 unsurec1412 falliblec1425 slipperc1430 ficklea1450 frivol1488 slidder?a1500 casuala1535 slippery1548 slippy1548 failable1561 doubtful1562 lubricious1584 slope1587 queasy1589 unconfirmedc1592 nice1598 catching1603 loose1603 precary1606 ambiguous1612 treacherous1612 unsafe1615 unsureda1616 precarious1626 lubric1631 dubious1635 lubricous1646 unestablished1646 unfixed1654 unsecure?a1685 unreliable1810 unproven1836 untrustworthy1846 shady1848 wobbly1877 Kaffir1899 independable1921 dodgy1961 temperamental1962 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus 1 Pet. in Paraphr. New Test. 2 Rewardes that are transitory and wage that is slyppery. 1573 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 1 In so slipperi a case as I am, I am enforcid to do as I do. a1630 F. Moryson in Shakespeare's Europe (1903) i. i. 13 Were not this high estate of his very slipperye, and subiect to sodaine destruction. 1632 Strafford in Browning & Forster Life (1891) 302 To hold him faste by the sliperye ties of feare and strained professions. 1704 J. Trapp Abra-Mule i. i O slipp'ry State Of Human pleasures. 1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 341 That their future fidelity in a slippery concern might be established. View more context for this quotation 1855 A. Bain Senses & Intellect ii. ii. 525 The logical caution..is still more requisite in the slippery regions of analogy. 1872 W. Bagehot Physics & Polit. (1876) 24 An aggregate of families owning even a slippery allegiance to a single head. †b. Of knowledge: Inexact, imperfect. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > [adjective] > of ideas, etc. slippery1584 lax1671 latitudinous1838 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus Famous Hyst. ii. f. 81^v Not contented with a slippery knowledge, but mooued with desire to learne the truth. 4. a. Of persons: Inclined to be fickle or faithless; not to be depended on; shifty, deceitful. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [adjective] slipperc1000 hinderc1200 slidderya1250 covert1340 unwrast1393 slyc1440 slippery1555 fetching1570 shifting1581 as slippery as an eel1601 roundabout1608 corner-creeping1610 shuffling1616 prevaricatory1645 prevaricative1657 sliverly1674 whifflinga1680 sneak-pasty1681 slid1719 evasive1725 shauchling1755 shifty1837 slab-bridged1845 sneaky1861 pussy-footed1893 sidewinding1902 slithery1902 pussyfooting1926 the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > unreliability > [adjective] > of persons slipperc1000 ficklea1275 untristya1387 flickering1430 untrusty1430 slidingc1435 unsurec1445 untraistc1485 unassure1531 slippery1555 untraisty1567 untrustful1569 unresponsable1619 uncanny1639 fair-weather1677 unresponsible1764 independable1802 unreliable1810 untrustworthy1846 undependable1860 incalculable1876 slithery1902 wonky1919 doubtful1925 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. ix. f. 44^v Women are slippery cattayle. 1590 R. Greene Neuer too Late i. 10 Some of them are as Sapho was, subtile to allure, & slippery to deceiue. 1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. iii. i. 246 That most false and slipperie man..was betraid into the hands of Sulla. 1679 T. Oates True Narr. Horrid Plot 10 But the Deponent standing by, said, what if the Duke should prove slippery! 1753 S. Foote Englishman in Paris i. 13 He's a slippery Chap, you know. 1805 W. Scott in J. Lockhart Mem. Life Sir W. Scott 12 Apr. He is hard and slippery, so settle your bargain fast and firm. 1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. xxvi. 248 By degrees this slippery penitent was induced to make other confessions. 1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxii. 378 The slippery politicians in the capital were on the watch. b. Of actions, etc.: Characterized by shiftiness, deceitfulness, or want of sincerity. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [adjective] > of actions, words, etc. sly1387 sinister?1455 slippery1579 shuffling1644 evasorious1687 evasive1744 shiftya1863 1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Sept. 200 Long time he vsed this slippery pranck. 1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia ii. sig. C7 She Will one day shew thee a touch as slippery. 1665 C. Cotton Scarronnides 61 Th' slippery trick he meant to play her. 1712 J. Warder True Amazons 145 Not knowing what a slippery Trick you have plaid them. 1861 W. M. Thackeray Four Georges iii. 144 He exercised a slippery perseverance, and a vindictive resolution. 1872 M. Creighton Hist. Ess. (1902) ii. 84 Some..refer all his slippery actions to a sincere desire for the good of Christendom. c. Proverbial phrase as slippery as an eel. Cf. eel n. 1c. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [adjective] slipperc1000 hinderc1200 slidderya1250 covert1340 unwrast1393 slyc1440 slippery1555 fetching1570 shifting1581 as slippery as an eel1601 roundabout1608 corner-creeping1610 shuffling1616 prevaricatory1645 prevaricative1657 sliverly1674 whifflinga1680 sneak-pasty1681 slid1719 evasive1725 shauchling1755 shifty1837 slab-bridged1845 sneaky1861 pussy-footed1893 sidewinding1902 slithery1902 pussyfooting1926 society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > unfaithfulness > [adjective] > untrustworthy trustless1554 as slippery as an eel1601 independable1802 unreliable1810 undependable1860 untrustworthy1878 wrong1908 c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (1897) 1985 Mi wit is also slipir as an eel. 1555 J. Heywood Two Hundred Epigrammes with Thyrde sig. E.i Slyper as an eeles tayle is the holde of it.] 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. ix. xx. 247 All that be long and slipperie as Yeels and Congres. 1622 S. Rowlands Good Newes & Bad Newes sig. B1^v Fie vpon giddie Fortune, and her wheele, Vnconstant, and as slipperie as an Eele. 1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxxi. 245 You'll find her as slippery as an Eel, I'll assure you. 1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. xvii. 209 He's as slippery as an eel, he is. He's like a cat,—as sleek, and cunning. 1914 T. Dreiser Titan xxvi. 220 I am morally certain he uses money to get what he is after as freely as a fireman uses water. He's as slippery as an eel. 1980 J. Gardner Garden of Weapons ii. i. 128 He's big, but slippery as an eel. 5. Licentious, wanton, unchaste; of doubtful morality. ΘΚΠ society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > [adjective] golec888 canga1225 light?c1225 wooinga1382 nicea1387 riota1400 wantonc1400 wrenec1400 lachesc1450 loose?a1500 licentious1555 libertine1560 prostitute1569 riggish1569 wide1574 slipper1581 slippery1586 sportive1595 gay1597 Cyprian1598 suburb1598 waggish1600 smicker1606 suburbian1606 loose-living1607 wantona1627 free-living1632 libertinous1632 loose-lived1641 Corinthian1642 akolastic1656 slight1685 fast1699 freea1731 brisk1740 shy1787 slang1818 randomc1825 fastish1832 loosish1846 slummya1860 velocious1872 fly1880 slack1951 1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 507 He shall cause hir..to become slipperie and lasciuious. 1592 R. Greene Disput. Conny-catcher sig. E4 I giue thee..a counterfect coyne, which is good inough for such a slipperie wanton. a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 275 Ha' not you seene Camillo?..or heard?..or thought?.. My Wife is slipperie ? View more context for this quotation 1738 tr. S. Guazzo Art of Conversat. 54 She began to tell the slippery Pranks of the Dutchess's Gentlewomen. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxi. 135 A slippery Love calls lightly, but yet refrain. 1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 48 Unnecessary and slippery luxuries, such as drink and tobacco. 6. Liable or prone to slip; readily giving way. Also of the memory, forgetful. ΘΚΠ the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective] slidinga900 wankleeOE windyc1000 unsteadfastc1200 fleeting?c1225 loose?c1225 brotelc1315 unstablec1340 varyingc1340 variantc1374 motleyc1380 ungroundedc1380 muablea1393 passiblea1393 remuablea1393 changeablea1398 movablea1398 variablec1397 slidderya1400 ticklec1400 variantc1412 flitting1413 mutable?a1425 movingc1425 flaskisable1430 flickering1430 transmutablec1430 vertible1447 brittlea1450 ficklea1450 permutablec1450 unfirmc1450 uncertain1477 turnable1483 unsteadfast1483 vagrantc1522 inconstant1526 alterable?1531 stirringc1540 slippery1548 various1552 slid?1553 mutala1561 rolling1561 weathery1563 unconstant1568 interchangeable1574 fluctuant1575 stayless1575 transitive1575 voluble1575 changeling1577 queasy1579 desultory1581 huff-puff1582 unstaid1586 vagrant1586 changeful1590 floating1594 Protean1594 unstayed1594 swimming1596 anchorless1597 mobilec1600 ticklish1601 catching1603 labile1603 unrooted1604 quicksilvered1605 versatile1605 insubstantial1607 uncertain1609 brandling1611 rootless1611 squeasy1611 wind-changinga1616 insolid1618 ambulatory1625 versatilous1629 plastic1633 desultorious1637 unbottomed1641 fluid1642 fluent1648 yea-and-nay1648 versipellous1650 flexile1651 uncentred1652 variating1653 chequered1656 slideable1662 transchangeative1662 weathercock-like1663 flicketing1674 fluxa1677 lapsable1678 wanton1681 veering1684 upon the weathercock1702 contingent1703 unsettled?1726 fermentable1731 afloat1757 brickle1768 wavy1795 vagarious1798 unsettled1803 fitful1810 metamorphosical1811 undulating1815 tittupya1817 titubant1817 mutative1818 papier mâché1818 teetotum1819 vacillating1822 capricious1823 sensitive1828 quicksilvery1829 unengrafted1829 fluxionala1834 proteiform1833 liquid1835 tottlish1835 kaleidoscopic1846 versative1846 kaleidoscopical1858 tottery1861 choppy1865 variative1874 variational1879 wimbly-wambly1881 fluctuable1882 shifty1882 giveable1884 shifty1884 tippy1886 mutatory1890 upsettable1890 rocky1897 undulatory1897 streaky1898 tottly1905 tipply1906 up and down1907 inertialess1927 sometimey1946 rise-and-fall1950 switchable1961 the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > invisibility > [adjective] > vanishing or disappearing > liable to vanish slippery1548 fadeable1633 volatile1655 the mind > mental capacity > memory > faulty recollection > [adjective] > of memory: not retentive short1340 slipper?a1475 unclasping1640 slippery1653 leaky1692 irretentive1749 unretentive1782 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus 1 Tim. in Paraphr. New Test. f. 14 The vowe of continencie is not to be committed vnto fraile slypperye age. 1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Ded. sig. diiij Leaste I shulde bestowe my slippery yeares in vnprofitable Idlenesse. 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 78 When they fall as being slipery standers [etc.] . View more context for this quotation 1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 107 The party is a vain babler, perfidious, and of a slippery memory. 1664 J. Evelyn Sylva (1729) xviii. 86 This profound fixing of Aquatick-trees being to preserve them steddy..in their liquid and slippery Foundations. 7. Of the tongue: Talking too freely. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [adjective] > voluble (of the tongue) tickle1377 readya1400 aspen1532 rolling1549 rounda1568 voluble1604 well hanged1632 well-hung1648 slippery1699 1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. (at cited word) A slippery (or free) Tongue, Une Langue trop-libre, qui dit tout, qui ne cache rien. 8. look slippery = to look slippy at slippy adj.¹ 2. dialect or colloquial. rare. ΚΠ 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiv. [Oxen of the Sun] 404 Two Ardilauns. Same here. Look slippery. 9. quasi-adv. Smartly, closely. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adverb] > with scrupulous care or attention to detail narrowlyeOE narrowOE wellOE busilyc1225 inwardly?c1225 closely1509 nearly1540 near1560 searchingly1574 nicely1597 exactly1612 strictly1632 close1642 pressly1642 scrutinously1650 minutely1690 scrupulously1712 tightly1758 keenly1824 slippery1828 meticulously1961 1828 Sporting Mag. 23 19 I found him in the yard, looking pretty slippery after the strappers. Compounds C1. General attributive. a. slippery-bellied adj. ΚΠ 1852 ‘Nightlark’ Meanderings Mem. I. 64 Thou silvery-backed, and slippery-bellied Eel. slippery-breeched adj. ΚΠ 1611 L. Barry Ram-Alley iv. i She is shewing Some slippery breech'd courtier rare faces In a bay-window. slippery-footed adj. ΚΠ 1903 W. B. Yeats In Seven Woods 37 The hot-footed sun, And the cold sliding slippery-footed moon. slippery-shod adj. ΚΠ 1682 O. Heywood Autobiogr., Diaries, Anecd. & Event Bks. (1885) IV. 85 It was a frost and snow, my horse slippery shod. slippery-tongued adj. ΚΠ 1843 A. Bethune Sc. Peasant's Fire-side 299 By and by evidence began to appear of Jock's being tarry-fingered as well as slippery-tongued. b. slippery-looking adj. ΚΠ 1903 M. G. Gerard Leaves from Diaries viii. 262 The only approach to these is by a slippery-looking pathway. slippery-sleek adj. ΚΠ a1618 J. Sylvester tr. H. Smith Map of Man in Wks. (Grosart) II. 97 Though shee simper, though shee smile,..Shee is alwayes slippery-sleeke. C2. slippery-back n. a West Indian skink ( Cent. Dict.). slippery hitch n. Nautical a knot made fast by catching part of the rope beneath the bight, released at a pull on the free end; also figurative. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > knot used by sailors > specific bowline-knot1627 clinch1627 sheepshank1627 wall-knot1627 running bowline1710 running bowline knot1726 bend1769 clove-hitch1769 half-hitch1769 hitch1769 walnut1769 cat's paw1794 midshipman's hitch1794 reef knot1794 clench1804 French shroud knot1808 carrick bend1819 bowline1823 slippery hitch1832 wall1834 Matthew Walker1841 shroud-knot1860 stopper-knotc1860 marling hitch1867 wind-knot1870 Portuguese knot1871 rosette1875 chain knota1877 stopper-hitch1876 swab-hitch1883 monkey fist1917 Spanish bowline1968 the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > binding or tying > a bond, tie, or fastening > [noun] > knot > any knot used by sailors > other specific sailors' knots bowline-knot1627 clinch1627 sheepshank1627 wall-knot1627 running bowline1710 running bowline knot1726 bend1769 clove-hitch1769 half-hitch1769 hitch1769 walnut1769 Magnus hitch1794 midshipman's hitch1794 clench1804 French shroud knot1808 carrick bend1819 bowline1823 slippery hitch1832 wall1834 cat's paw1840 Matthew Walker1841 shroud-knot1860 stopper-knotc1860 Portuguese knot1871 chain knota1877 stopper-hitch1876 swab-hitch1883 Spanish bowline1968 1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster I. xiii. 181 The monkey of a boy who made her fast..had made a ‘slippery hitch’; so away it went. 1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life vii. 273 Alf, it appeared, had left the station six or eight weeks before, bound for no-one knew where. Jack's opinion was that in so doing he had made a slippery-hitch. 1944 C. W. Ashley Bk. Knots i. 19 The Slippery Hitch is often found in the sheets and halyards of small boats. slippery path n. = slip n.³ 1b. Also figurative, the road to disaster or destruction. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > slip on which ships built or repaired launch1711 slip1769 shipway1840 building-slip1846 slippery path1846 1846 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 6th Ser. 167 Two temporary ‘slippery paths’ down which the vessel may slide into the river. slippery pole n. = greasy pole n. at greasy adj. Compounds 2 (in quots. figurative). ΚΠ 1972 Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 20/1 The Voice had this wonderfully sobering policy of rejecting your stories right when you thought you had a firm grasp on the slippery pole. 1977 H. Greene FSO-1 xviii. 167 All of these years of clambering up the slippery pole only to find there was no top to it. Slippery Sam n. a card game (cf. blind-hookey n. at blind adj. Compounds). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > other card games > [noun] > others laugh and lie down1522 mack1548 decoyc1555 pinionc1557 to beat the knave out of doors1570 imperial1577 prima vista1587 loadum1591 flush1598 prime1598 thirty-perforce1599 gresco1605 hole1621 my sow's pigged1621 slam1621 fox-mine-host1622 whipperginnie1622 crimpa1637 hundred1636 pinache1641 sequence1653 lady's hole1658 quebas1668 art of memory1674 costly colours1674 penneech1674 plain dealing1674 wit and reason1680 comet1685 lansquenet1687 incertain1689 macham1689 uptails1694 quinze1714 hoc1730 commerce1732 matrimonya1743 tredrille1764 Tom come tickle me1769 tresette1785 snitch'ems1798 tontine1798 blind hazard1816 all fives1838 short cards1845 blind hookey1852 sixty-six1857 skin the lamb1864 brisque1870 handicap1870 manille1874 forty-five1875 slobberhannes1877 fifteen1884 Black Maria1885 slapjack1887 seven-and-a-half1895 pit1904 Russian Bank1915 red dog1919 fan-tan1923 Pelmanism1923 Slippery Sam1923 go fish1933 Russian Banker1937 racing demon1938 pit-a-pat1947 scopa1965 1923 L. H. Dawson Hoyle's Games Modernized i. 162 Slippery Sam is a variation of and by many considered an improvement on Blind Hookey. 1954 A. S. C. Ross in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 55 22 Solo whist..is non-U, though much ‘lower’ games (e.g. pontoon, nap and even slippery sam) are not necessarily so. 1978 C. Storr Winter's End iv. 58 The others were exclaiming and shouting at Racing Demon... They'd changed to Slippery Sam. Draft additions 1993 Of a vehicle or its shape: creating only low air resistance; streamlined. colloquial. ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [adjective] > of or relating to motor vehicles > aerodynamic slippery1981 aero1982 1981 Pop. Hot Rodding Feb. 88/1 The reason for the tremendous gain in speed is the Monza's very slippery shape and small frontal area. 1982 Observer 31 Jan. 44/6 The new shape is obviously very slippery—the makers give a drag coefficient of 0.34. 1985 Austral. Business 4 Sept. 82/1 The company now has the world's three most aerodynamically efficient cars. The Audi, the Renault 25 and now the Vortex are the ‘slipperiest’ cars around. 1986 H. I. Andrews Railway Traction iv. 78 This difference is well known to drivers, who are accustomed to describe one type of locomotive as more slippery than another. Draft additions June 2018 slippery dip n. Australian colloquial a children's slide, esp. in a playground or park. ΚΠ 1917 Sydney Sportsman 17 Jan. 6/7 They went on the Slippery Dip, and Les got knocked out. 1952 Austral. Woman's Mirror 15 Oct. 28/1 We children were playing on the swings and slippery dips. 2011 C. Stinson It Takes Village 113 Jenny and the boys rode the water wheel and slid down the slippery dip too many times to count. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < adj.1535
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