slide (slīd)

v., slid (slĭd), slid·ing, slides.

v.intr.

1. To move over a surface while maintaining smooth continuous contact.
2. To coast on a slippery surface, such as ice or snow.
3. To pass smoothly and quietly; glide: slid past the door without anyone noticing.
4. To go unattended or unacted upon: Let the matter slide.
5. To lose a secure footing or positioning; shift out of place; slip: slid on the ice and fell.
6. 1. To move downward: Prices began to slide.
   2. To return to a less favorable or less worthy condition.
7. Baseball. To drop down and skid into a base to avoid being put out.

v.tr.

1. To cause to slide or slip: slid the glass down to the other end of the counter.
2. To place covertly or deftly: slid the stolen merchandise into his pocket.

n.

1. A sliding movement or action.
2. A smooth surface or track for sliding, usually inclined: a water slide.
3. A playground apparatus for children to slide on, typically consisting of a smooth chute mounted by means of a ladder.
4. A part that operates by sliding, as the U-shaped section of tube on a trombone that is moved to change the pitch.
5. An image on a transparent base for projection on a screen.
6. A small glass plate for mounting specimens to be examined under a microscope.
7. A fall of a mass of rock, earth, or snow down a slope; an avalanche or landslide.
8. Music.
   1. A slight portamento used in violin playing, passing quickly from one note to another.
   2. An ornamentation consisting of two grace notes approaching the main note.
   3. A small metal or glass tube worn over a finger or held in the hand, used in playing bottleneck-style guitar.
   4. The bottleneck style of guitar playing.

[Middle English sliden, from Old English slīdan.]

SYNONYMS   slide, slip, glide, coast, skid, slither. These verbs mean to move smoothly and continuously over or as if over a slippery surface. Slide usually implies rapid easy movement without loss of contact with the surface: coal that slid down a chute to the cellar. Slip is most often applied to accidental sliding resulting in loss of balance or foothold: slipped on a patch of ice. Glide refers to smooth, free-flowing, seemingly effortless movement: "four snakes gliding up and down a hollow" (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Coast applies especially to downward movement resulting from the effects of gravity or momentum: The driver let the truck coast down the incline. Skid implies an uncontrolled, often sideways sliding caused by a lack of traction: The bus skidded on wet pavement. Slither can mean to slip and slide, as on an uneven surface, often with friction and noise: "The detached crystals slithered down the rock face" (H.G. Wells). The word can also suggest the sinuous gliding motion of a reptile: An iguana slithered across the path.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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