Slickem

"Turkington's bright mop of red hair had plainly never known slickem."

"Meanwhile the original 'slickem' concept turns virtually any US warship into a strategic launch platform, but particularly nuclear-powered attack submarines whose primary role was previously to act as anti-submarine warfare platforms themselves."

"Now one of the most engrossing questions in the politics of the State arises from the filling of the rivers and the destruction of the agricultural lands by the debris from these hydraulic mines. A dam on the Feather River, near Marysville, was authorized by the Legislature, and after the expenditure of half a million dollars its success is questioned, and "slickem" continues to muddy at least the political waters."

"Whitey Hermanson's Leatherneck son thought that his dad's car could get along on iron rations, or whatever Marines carry to their landing with situations in hand, forgot to put some slickem in the case for the turn-arounds, and that knocked the babbit outa the gadgets."

"“We were wondering about this slickem stuff,” the tall one said. “Oh, sure, slickem,” Dale said. “It's kind of neat stuff, actually. It's a long-chain polymer, kind of a gooey plastic. It's injected into the line at Pump One and”—she looked at Toni—”Pump Two? Anyway, it kind of gums up the oil, not much, just enough to slow the turbulent flow so it doesn't ball up inside the line, and instead uses its energy to push itself down the pipeline to Valdez...""