Slither

//ˈslɪð.ɚ// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A limestone rubble. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A sliver. countable, nonstandard, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To move about smoothly and from side to side. intransitive

    "[Indiana:] Wave it at anything that slithers. [Marion:] The whole place is slithering!"

  2. 2
    to pass or move unobtrusively or smoothly wordnet
  3. 3
    To slide. intransitive

    "Some snow slides recorded have exceeded a million tons and slithered down the mountain-side at a speed of 60 miles an hour."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Slithery; slippery. archaic

Synonyms

All synonyms
ambleavalanchebargebowl alongbundleclump

Example

More examples

"Tom saw a snake slither across the path."

Etymology

From Middle English slitheren, alteration of slideren (“to slither, creep”), from Old English slidrian (“to slip, slide, slither”), from Proto-West Germanic *slidrōn (“to slide, slither”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- (“to slip”), equivalent to slide + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch slidderen (“to slip, wriggle, slither”), German schlittern (“to slither, skid”). More at slide.

More for "slither"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.