# slide

Pronunciation: say "SLYD" /slaɪd/

## Verb

1. To move smoothly over a low-friction surface such as ice, snow, or a polished floor.
   - Simple: To move easily across a smooth or slippery surface.
   - _The puck slid across the rink and into the goal._
   - _Raindrops slide down the smooth glass of the windshield._
2. To move, or cause to move, smoothly along while remaining in continuous contact with a surface.
   - Simple: To move something along a surface without lifting it, or to move that way yourself.
   - _He slid the contract across the desk for her signature._
   - _The patio doors slide along a metal track._
9. To fall or decline in amount or value, as prices and sales often do.
   - Simple: To go down slowly in amount or value.
   - _The company's stock slid three percent after the earnings call._
   - _Home values continued to slide through the winter._
10. To slip on a slick surface so that one's footing gives way.
   - Simple: To lose your balance when the ground under you is slippery.
   - _She slid on the icy steps and caught herself on the railing._
   - _Hikers often slide on the wet rocks near the falls._
11. To pass or place something imperceptibly; to slip it somewhere unnoticed.
   - Simple: To move or pass something quietly so that nobody notices.
   - _He slid a folded twenty into the valet's hand._
   - _Lobbyists managed to slide the provision into the final bill._
14. In baseball, to drop down and skid into a base.
   - Simple: In baseball, to drop down and skid along the ground to reach a base.
   - _He slid headfirst into third and called for time._
   - _Runners often slide to avoid the tag at second base._
16. In music, to move between two notes without a break, bending the pitch up or down along the way.
   - Simple: To move smoothly from one music note to another by bending the sound up or down.
   - _The violinist slid gracefully from the opening note into the melody's highest pitch._
   - _Many blues singers slide up to a note rather than hitting it directly._
22. To go or make one's way somewhere, as to a store or a friend's place. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To go somewhere. A very casual word, used between friends.
   - _We're about to slide to the store. You need anything?_
   - _He slid through the neighborhood to see who was around._
23. To kick a ball so that it travels along the ground with little or no spin.
   - Simple: To kick a ball so it stays low and moves along the ground without spinning much.
   - _Rather than chipping the ball, he chose to slide it through the defense._
   - _She slid the corner kick low and hard toward the near post._
24. To go sledding or tobogganing down snow-covered hills for fun. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: To ride down a snowy hill on a sled or toboggan for fun.
   - _Every January the neighborhood kids slide on the golf course hills until dark._
   - _We slid for hours on the crusty snow behind the farmhouse._
25. To direct a facial expression at someone subtly or discreetly.
   - Simple: To give someone a quick, quiet look or smile without others noticing.
   - _Across the dinner table, she slid her brother a warning glance._
   - _He would slide me a knowing smirk whenever the boss repeated himself._

## Noun

3. A piece of play equipment that children climb up and then slide down, typically a smooth inclined chute with a ladder.
   - Simple: A piece of playground equipment with steps and a long, smooth ramp for going down.
   - _The new park features a curving slide twice the height of the old one._
   - _The school replaced its old metal slides with plastic ones._
4. A single page of a computer presentation created in software such as PowerPoint.
   - Simple: One page of a computer presentation, such as a PowerPoint show.
   - _The quarterly report ran to forty slides, most of them charts._
   - _Keep each slide to one idea, the speaking coach advised._
5. A backless, open-toed sandal that the foot slips into easily.
   - Simple: A flat shoe with an open back and open toes that you slip your foot into.
   - _Designer slides have become acceptable office wear in some industries._
   - _One slide floated away when the wave caught her by surprise._
6. A transparent plate or piece of film bearing an image, mounted for projection onto a screen.
   - Simple: A small piece of clear film with a picture on it, shown on a screen with light.
   - _She held the slide up to the window to check the exposure._
   - _Decades of vacation slides filled three carousels in the attic._
7. A flat, usually rectangular piece of glass or similar material on which a prepared sample is placed for examination under a microscope.
   - Simple: A small flat piece of glass that holds something you want to look at under a microscope.
   - _The lab technician labeled each slide before placing it under the lens._
   - _Stained slides revealed the bacteria in vivid purple._
8. An act of moving smoothly along a surface; smooth, even passage or progress.
   - Simple: A smooth movement along a surface without lifting or stopping.
   - _The dancer ended the routine with a long slide across the stage._
   - _The negotiations made a quiet slide toward agreement over the following weeks._
12. The collapse of a large mass of earth, rock, and rubble down the side of a hill or mountain.
   - Simple: A fall of rocks, dirt, and stones down a hill or mountain.
   - _Crews worked through the night to clear the slide from the highway._
   - _Heavy spring melt triggered slides across the mountain passes._
13. In baseball, the act of dropping down and skidding along the ground into a base.
   - Simple: In baseball, a move where a runner drops down and skids into a base.
   - _His headfirst slide into home plate beat the catcher's tag._
   - _Feet-first slides put less strain on the hands and wrists._
15. A surface of ice, snow, butter, or the like on which a person can slide, whether for amusement or as a practical joke.
   - Simple: A strip of ice, snow, or something slippery that people slide on for fun.
   - _By January the schoolboys had polished a long slide down the middle of the lane._
   - _He stepped onto the buttered slide his roommates had prepared and went down hard._
17. A hand-held cylinder of smooth, hard material, such as glass or metal, drawn along guitar strings to produce gliding pitches.
   - Simple: A smooth, hard tube worn on a finger and moved along guitar strings to bend the notes.
   - _She slipped a brass slide onto her pinky and began the blues number._
   - _The Delta blues sound depends on a slide gliding over open-tuned strings._
18. An inclined surface down which heavy objects descend by gravity, especially one built on a mountainside for sending logs downhill.
   - Simple: A long, sloped track that lets heavy things, like logs, move downhill on their own.
   - _Loggers built a slide down the mountainside to move timber to the valley floor._
   - _Each log gathered speed as it shot down the slide toward the millpond._
19. A machine part, or the portion of a mechanism, that moves along a fixed guide or track.
   - Simple: A part of a machine that moves back and forth along a track or rail.
   - _The camera mount travels on a slide so the operator can adjust framing precisely._
   - _Grease the slide regularly to keep the press running smoothly._
20. A valve mechanism operated by sliding, such as the movable section of tubing on a trombone.
   - Simple: A part of a musical instrument that moves in and out to change the notes.
   - _The trombonist extended the slide to its outermost position for the lowest note._
   - _A slide whistle changes pitch as the slide moves through the barrel._
21. The movable part of a zipper that opens or closes the rows of teeth; a slider.
   - Simple: The small moving part of a zipper that you pull to open or close it.
   - _The zipper's slide broke off, leaving the bag impossible to close._
   - _A drop of wax on the slide will free a sticky zipper._
26. A lever that can be moved in either of two directions.
   - Simple: A lever that can move in two directions, like forward and back.
   - _Adjust the slide on the mixing board to balance the vocals._
   - _A small slide on the lamp's cord controls the brightness._
27. A clasp or brooch used to fasten a belt, scarf, or similar item.
   - Simple: A small fastener or pin that holds a belt, scarf, or tie in place.
   - _The antique belt fastened with an engraved brass slide._
   - _She wore a bolo tie cinched with a hammered-silver slide._
28. A grace, or ornament, consisting of two or more short notes moving by step and leading to a principal note either above or below.
   - Simple: A short group of quick small notes that lead step by step into a main note.
   - _Baroque keyboard players often inserted a slide to soften the approach to an accented note._
   - _The flutist's slide into the high G gave the phrase extra elegance._
29. In phonetics, a sound that shades gradually into another as the vocal organs shift position, with no noticeable break.
   - Simple: A speech sound that changes slowly into another sound as the mouth and tongue move.
   - _The diphthong in 'ride' contains a slide from one vowel quality to another._
   - _Careful listeners can hear the slide as the tongue moves between consonant and vowel._
30. A small displacement in layers of rock where one side of a fracture has moved slightly relative to the other.
   - Simple: A small break in layers of rock where one side has moved a little.
   - _Geologists mapped a slide where the strata had shifted a few inches along the fracture._
   - _The quarry face revealed a slide cutting cleanly through the sandstone beds._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To slip or err without meaning to.
- (verb) To glide onward easily with nothing in the way, or to pass by without being noticed.
- (noun) A fast traditional Irish dance, or a tune for it, in 12/8 time, associated with County Kerry.
- (noun) A detachable sleeve bearing rank badges, worn on the shoulder straps of an army uniform.
- (noun) A trouser pocket.
- (noun) A deliberate, easy stretching of a sound, used by people who stutter to gain control over their speech.
- (noun) A woman regarded as sexually promiscuous.

## Origin

From Middle English sliden, from Old English slīdan ("to slide"), which traces back through Proto-Germanic *slīdaną ("to slide, glide") to a Proto-Indo-European root *sleydʰ- meaning "slippery." It is related to Old High German slītan and Middle Dutch slīden.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/slide (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).