Hypertext Webster Gateway: "slippery"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Slippery \Slip"per*y\, a. [See {Slipper}, a.]
1. Having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; allowing or
causing anything to slip or move smoothly, rapidly, and
easily upon the surface; smooth; glib; as, oily substances
render things slippery.

2. Not affording firm ground for confidence; as, a slippery
promise.

The slippery tops of human state. --Cowley.

3. Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away.

The slippery god will try to loose his hold.
--Dryden.

4. Liable to slip; not standing firm. --Shak.

5. Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant;
fickle. ``The slippery state of kings.'' --Denham.

6. Uncertain in effect. --L'Estrange.

7. Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals. --Shak.

{Slippery elm}. (Bot.)
(a) An American tree ({Ulmus fulva}) with a mucilagenous
and slightly aromatic inner bark which is sometimes
used medicinally; also, the inner bark itself.
(b) A malvaceous shrub ({Fremontia Californica}); -- so
called on the Pacific coast.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

slippery
adj 1: being such as to cause things to slip or slide; "slippery
sidewalks"; "a slippery bar of soap"; "the streets are
still slippy from the rain" [syn: {slippy}] [ant: {nonslippery}]
2: not to be trusted; "how extraordinarily slippery a liar the
camera is"- James Agee [syn: {tricky}]


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