Slither
/ˈslɪð.ɚ/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A limestone rubble. countable, uncountable
- 2 A sliver. countable, nonstandard, uncountable
Verb
- 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 to pass or move unobtrusively or smoothly wordnet
- 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 Slithery; slippery. archaic
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.