Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SLING'ER, n.

One who slings or uses the sling.

SLING'ING, ppr.

Throwing with a sling; hanging so as to swing; moving by a sling.

SLINK, a.

Produced prematurely, as the young of a beast.

SLINK, v.i. [pret. and pp. slunk. Sax. slincan; G. schleichen.]

1. To sneak; to creep away meanly; to steal away. He would pinch the children in the dark, and then slink into a corner. – Arbuthnot.
2. To miscarry, as a beast.

SLINK, v.t.

To cast prematurely; to abort or miscarry of; as the female of a beast.

SLIP, n.¹

1. A sliding; act of slipping.
2. An unintentional error or fault. – Dryden.
3. A twig separated from the main stock; as, the slip of a vine.
4. A leash or string by which a dog is held; so called from its being so made as to slip or become loose by relaxation of the hand. – Shak.
5. An escape; a secret or unexpected desertion.
6. A long narrow piece; as, a slip of paper. – Addison.
7. A counterfeit piece of money, being brass covered with silver. [Not in use.] – Shak.
8. Matter found in troughs of grindstones after the grinding of edge-tools. [Local.] Petty.
9. A particular quantity of yarn. [Local.] – Barret.
10. An opening between wharves or in a dock. [N. York.]
11. A place having a gradual descent on the bank of a river or harbor, convenient for shipbuilding. – Mar. Dict.
12. A long seat or narrow pew in churches. [United States.]

SLIP, n.²

In geology, a mass of strata separated vertically or aslant.

SLIP, v.i. [Sax. slepan; D. sleppen; Sw. slippa; Dan. sliipper; G. schlüpfen, schliefen; W. yslib, smooth, glib, from llib; L. labor, to slide.]

1. To slide; to glide; to move along the surface of a thing without bounding, rolling or stepping.
2. To slide; not to tread firmly. Walk carefully, lest your foot should slip.
3. To move or fly out of place; usually with out; as, a bone may slip out of its place. – Wiseman.
4. To sneak; to slink; to depart or withdraw secretly; with away. Thus one tradesman slips away, / To give his partner fairer play. – Prior.
5. To err; to fall into error or fault. One slippeth in his speech, but not from his heart. – Ecclus.
6. To glide; to pass unexpectedly or imperceptibly. And thrice the flitting shadow slipp'd away. – Dryden.
7. To enter by oversight. An error may slip into a copy, notwithstanding all possible care.
8. To escape insensibly; to be lost. Use the most proper methods to retain the ideas you have acquired, for the mind is ready to let many of them slip. – Watts.

SLIP, v.t.

1. To convey secretly. He tried to slip a powder into her drink. – Arbuthnot.
2. To omit; to lose by negligence. Let us not slip the occasion. And slip no advantage / That may secure you. – B. Jonson.
3. To part twigs from the branches or stem of a tree. The branches also may be slipped and planted. – Mortimer.
4. To escape from; to leave slily. Lucentio slipp'd me like his greyhound. – Shak. From is here understood.
5. To let loose; as, to slip the bounds. – Dryden.
6. To throw off; to disengage one's self from; as, a horse slips his bridle.
7. To pass over or omit negligently; as, to slip over the main points of a subject.
8. To tear off; as, to slip off a twig.
9. To suffer abortion; to miscarry; as a beast. To slip a cable, to veer out and let go the end. – Mar. Dict. To slip on, to put on in haste or loosely; as, to slip on a gown or coat.

SLIP'-BOARD, n.

A board sliding in grooves. – Swift.

SLIP'-KNOT, n.

A bow-knot; a knot which will not bear a strain, or which is easily untied. – Johnson. Mar. Dict.

SLIP'PED, pp. [of Slip.]

SLIP'PER, a. [Sax. slipur.]

Slippery. [Not in use.] – Spenser.

SLIP'PER, n. [Sax.]

1. A kind of shoe consisting of a sole and vamp without quarters, which may be slipped on with ease and worn in undress; a slip-shoe. – Pope.
2. A kind of apron for children, to be slipped over their other clothes to keep them clean.
3. A plant. [L. crepis.]
4. A kind of iron slide or lock for the use of a heavy wagon.

SLIP'PER-ED, a.

Wearing slippers. – Warton.

SLIP'PER-I-LY, adv. [from slippery.]

In a slippery manner.

SLIP'PER-I-NESS, n.

1. The state or quality of being slippery; lubricity; smoothness; glibness; as, the slipperiness of ice or snow; the slipperiness of the tongue.
2. Uncertainty; want of firm footing. – Johnson.
3. Lubricity of character.

SLIP'PER-Y, a.

1. Smooth; glib; having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; as, oily substances render things slippery.
2. Not affording firm footing or confidence; as, a slippery promise. – Tusser. The slipp'ry tops of human state. – Cowley.
3. Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away. The slippery god will try to loose his hold. – Dryden.
4. Not standing firm; as, slippery standers. – Shak.
5. Unstable changeable; mutable; uncertain; as, the slippery state of kings. – Denham.
6. Not certain in its effect; as, a slippery trick.
7. Lubricous; wanton; unchaste. – Shak.

SLIP'PY, a.

Slippery. [Not in use, though regular. Sax. slipeg.]

SLIP'SHOD, a. [slip and shod.]

Wearing shoes like slippers, without pulling up the quarters. – Swift.

SLIP'SLOP, n.

Bad liquor.

SLIP'STRING, n. [slip and string.]

One that has shaken off restraint; a prodigal; called also slipthrift, but I believe seldom or never used. – Cotgrave.

SLIT, n.

1. A long cut; or a narrow opening, as a slit in the ear.
2. A cleft or crack in the breast of cattle. – Encyc.

SLIT, v.t. [pret. slit; pp. slit or slitted. Sax. slitan; Sw. slita; G. schleissen; D. slyten; Dan. slider. The two latter signify to wear out or waste. The German has the signification of splitting and of wearing out.]

1. To cut lengthwise; to cut into long pieces or strips; as, to slit iron bars into nail rods.
2. To cut or make a long fissure; as, to slit the ear or tongue, or the nose. – Temple. Newton.
3. To cut in general. – Milton.
4. To rend; to split.

SLIT'TER, n.

One that slits.