slide Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a small flat rectangular piece of glass on which specimens can be mounted for microscopic study
    microscope slide.
  2. noun (geology) the descent of a large mass of earth or rocks or snow etc.
  3. noun (music) rapid sliding up or down the musical scale
    swoop.
    • the violinist was indulgent with his swoops and slides
  4. noun plaything consisting of a sloping chute down which children can slide
    playground slide; sliding board.
  5. noun the act of moving smoothly along a surface while remaining in contact with it
    glide; coast.
    • his slide didn't stop until the bottom of the hill
    • the children lined up for a coast down the snowy slope
  6. noun a transparency mounted in a frame; viewed with a slide projector
    lantern slide.
  7. noun sloping channel through which things can descend
    sloping trough; chute; slideway.
  8. verb move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
    slew; skid; slip; slue.
    • the wheels skidded against the sidewalk
  9. verb to pass or move unobtrusively or smoothly
    slither.
    • They slid through the wicket in the big gate
  10. verb move smoothly along a surface
    • He slid the money over to the other gambler

WordNet

Slide transitive verb
Etymology
OE. sliden, AS. slidan; akin to MHG. sliten, also to AS. slidor slippery, E. sled, Lith. slidus slippery. Cf. Sled.
Wordforms
imperfect Slid ; past participle Slidden Slid; present participle & verbal noun Slidding
Definitions
  1. To move along the surface of any body by slipping, or without walking or rolling; to slip; to glide; as, snow slides down the mountain's side.
  2. Especially, to move over snow or ice with a smooth, uninterrupted motion, as on a sled moving by the force of gravity, or on the feet.
    They bathe in summer, and in winter slide. Waller.
  3. To pass inadvertently.
    Beware thou slide not by it. Ecclus. xxviii. 26.
  4. To pass along smoothly or unobservedly; to move gently onward without friction or hindrance; as, a ship or boat slides through the water.
    Ages shall slide away without perceiving. Dryden.
    Parts answering parts shall slide into a whole. Pope.
  5. To slip when walking or standing; to fall.
    Their foot shall slide in due time. Deut. xxxii. 35.
  6. (Mus.) To pass from one note to another with no perceptible cassation of sound.
  7. To pass out of one's thought as not being of any consequence. Obs. or Colloq.
    With good hope let he sorrow slide. Chaucer.
    With a calm carelessness letting everything slide. Sir P. Sidney.
Slide transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To cause to slide; to thrust along; as, to slide one piece of timber along another.
  2. To pass or put imperceptibly; to slip; as, to slide in a word to vary the sense of a question.
Slide noun
Etymology
AS. slide.
Definitions
  1. The act of sliding; as, a slide on the ice.
  2. Smooth, even passage or progress.
    A better slide into their business. Bacon.
  3. That on which anything moves by sliding. Specifically: (a) An inclined plane on which heavy bodies slide by the force of gravity, esp. one constructed on a mountain side for conveying logs by sliding them down. (b) A surface of ice or snow on which children slide for amusement.
  4. That which operates by sliding. Specifically: (a) A cover which opens or closes an aperture by sliding over it. (b) (Mach.) A moving piece which is guided by a part or parts along which it slides. (c) A clasp or brooch for a belt, or the like.
  5. A plate or slip of glass on which is a picture or delineation to be exhibited by means of a magic lantern, stereopticon, or the like; a plate on which is an object to be examined with a microscope.
  6. The descent of a mass of earth, rock, or snow down a hill or mountain side; as, a land slide, or a snow slide; also, the track of bare rock left by a land slide. also mudslide
  7. (Geol.) A small dislocation in beds of rock along a line of fissure. Dana.
  8. (Mus.) (a) A grace consisting of two or more small notes moving by conjoint degrees, and leading to a principal note either above or below. (b) An apparatus in the trumpet and trombone by which the sounding tube is lengthened and shortened so as to produce the tones between the fundamental and its harmonics.
  9. (Phonetics) A sound which, by a gradual change in the position of the vocal organs, passes imperceptibly into another sound.
  10. (Steam Engine) (a) Same as Guide bar, under Guide. (b) A slide valve. In the illustration, a is the cylinder of a steam engine, in which plays the piston p; b the steam chest, receiving its supply from the pipe i, and containing the slide valve s, which is shown as admitting steam to one end of the cylinder through the port e, and opening communication between the exhaust passage f and the port c, for the release of steam from the opposite end of the cylinder.

Webster 1913