slight 
The rogues slighted me into the river with as little re- 
morse as they would have drowned a blind bitch's puppies. 
Shak., M. W. of W., lif 5. 9. 
4. To treat as of little value, or as unworthy 
of notice; disregard intentionally; treat with 
intentional neglect or disrespect : make little 
of. 
Puts him off, slights him. Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 200. 
In ancient Days, if Women slii/hted Dress, 
Then Men were ruder too, and lik'd it less. 
Congreve, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love. 
Nor do I merit, Odin, thou should'st slight 
Me and my words, though thou be first in Heaven ! 
M. Arnold, Balder Dead. 
To Blight Off*, to dismiss slightingly or as a matter of 
little moment ; wave off or dismiss. 
Many gulls and gallants we may hear sometimes alight 
of death with a jest, when they think it out of hearing. 
Rev. S. Ward, Sermons, p. 56. 
To slight over, to smooth over ; slur over ; hence, to treat 
carelessly ; performsupernciallyorwithoutthoroughness. 
When they have promised great matters, and failed most 
shamefully, yet, if they have the perfection of boldness, 
they will but slight it over, and make a turn, and no more 
ado. Bacon, Boldness (ed. 1887). 
= Syn. 4. Disregard, etc. See neglect, v. t. 
slight 1 (slit), it. [< slight^, <.] 1. An act of 
intentional neglect shown toward one who ex- 
pects some notice or courtesy ; failure to notice 
one ; a deliberate ignoring or disregard of a 
person, out of displeasure or contempt. 
She is feeling now (as even Bohemian women can feel 
some things) this slight that has been newly offered to her 
by the hands of her " sisters." 
Mrs. Edward**, Ought we to Visit her? I. 62. 
2. Intentional neglect ; disrespect. 
An image seem'd to pasa the door, 
To look at her with slight. 
Tennyson, Mariana in the South. 
=8yn. Disrespect. See the verb. 
slight 2 !, n. A more correct, but obsolete spell- 
ing of sleight?. 
'slightt (slit), interj. A contraction of by this 
light or God's light. 
'Slight, away with 't with all speed, man '. 
Middleton (and others), The Widow, I. 2. 
How! not in case? 
'Slight, thou 'rt in too much case, by all this law. 
S. Jonson, Poetaster, i. 1. 
slightent (sli'tn), v. t. [< sliglifl + -ew 1 .] To 
slight or disregard. 
It is an odious wisdom to blaspheme, 
Much more to slighten or deny their powers. 
B. Jonton, Sejanus, v. 10. 
She, as 'tis said, 
Slijiktens his love, and he abandons hers. 
Ford, Tis Pity, IT. 2. 
Slighter (sli'ter), n. l< slight, r., + -erl.] One 
who slights or neglects. 
I do not believe you are so great an undervaluer or 
slighter of it as not to preserve it tenderly and thriftily. 
Jer. Taylor (!), Artif. Handsomeness, p. 102. 
slightfult, . See sleightful. 
slighting (sli'ting), . [Verbal n. ofsligltfl, r.] 
Disregard; scorn; slight. 
Yet will you love me? 
Tell me but how I have deserv'd your slighting. 
Fletcher, Beggars' Bush, iii. 4. 
slighting (sli'ting), p. a. Derogatory; dispar- 
aging. 
To hear yourself or your profession glanced at 
In a few slighting terms. 
B. Jonson, Magnetick Lady, t. 1. 
slightingly (sli'ting-li), adr. In a slighting 
manner; with disrespect; disparagingly. 
slightly (slit'li), adv. 1. In a slight manner ; 
slimly: slenderly; unsubstantially. 
To the east of the town [of Laodicea] there is a well of 
good water, from which the city is supplied by an aque- 
duct very slightly built. 
Pococlte, Description of the East, II. i. 197. 
2. To a slight degree; to some little extent ; 
in some small measure: as, slightly scented 
wood ; slightly wounded. 
In the court is a well of slightly brackish water. 
E. W. Lane, Modern Egyptians, I. 11. 
3. With scant ceremony or respect; with little 
consideration; disparagingly; slightingly. 
Being sent for at length to have his dispatch, and slightly 
enough conducted to the council-chamber, he [the Eng- 
lish ambassador] was told by Shalkan that this emperor 
would condescend to no other agreements than were be- 
tween his father and the queen before his coming. 
Milton, Hist. Moscovia, v. 
He tells me that my Lord Sandwich is lost there at 
Court, though the King is particularly his friend. But 
people do speak every where slightly of him : which is a 
sad story to me, but I hope it may be better again. 
Pepys, Diary, II. 342. 
4. Easily; thoughtlessly. 
You were to blame, I must be plain with you, 
To part so slightly with your wife's first gift. 
Shak., M. of V., v. 1. 167. 
5696 
slightness(slit'nes), . The character or state 
of being slight, in any sense. 
It must omit 
Real necessities, and give way the while 
To unstable tightness. Shak., Cor., iii. 1. 148. 
slightyt (sli'ti), . [< slight! + -yl.] 1. Slim; 
weak; of little weight, force, or efficacy; slight; 
superficial. 
If a word of heaven fall in now and then in their con- 
ference, alas ! how slighty is it, and customary, and heart- 
less! Baxter, Saints' Rest, iv., Conclusion. 
2. Trifling; inconsiderable. 
slikt, a. [< ME. slik, slyk, sli<: W///.v , < led. .-n/.-r. 
such, = Sw. slik = Dan. slig, such, = AS. mi-ilr, 
c, such: see such and sic 1 .'] Such. 
Man sal taa of twa thynges, 
Slyk as he fyndes, or taa Klifk as he brynges. 
Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 1. 210. 
slike 1 !, r. f. [< ME. uliken, < AS. * si lean (not 
found) = LG. sliken (orig. strong) = OHG. slih- 
Jian, slichan, MHG. slichen, G. schleiclien, crawl, 
slink. Of. sleek, slick' 1 , slink 1 .] To crawl. 
slike 2 t, a. A Middle English form of alt <7 ,-. 
silly. a<ii: See xlylii. 
slim 1 (slim), a. [Not found in ME. ; (a) in the 
physical sense 'thin,' etc., prob. < Ir. slim, 
thin, lank, = Gael, shorn, slim, slim, slender, 
smooth, slippery, also inert, deceitful; in the 
depreciative senses 'slight, poor, bad,' etc., 
appar. orig. a fig. use of 'thin,' mixed with (6) 
MD. slim = MLG. slim, slanting, wrong, bad 
(> Icel. slsemr = Sw. (obs. ) Dan. slem, bad), 
= OHG. "slimli (in deriv. slimbi), MHG. slirnp 
(slimb-) (> It. sghembo, crooked, slanting), G. 
sclilimm, bad, cunning, unwell. For the de- 
velopment of senses, cf. slighft, 'smooth, thin, 
poor, bad,' etc. Cf. E. dial, slam?.] 1. Thin; 
slender: as, a slim waist. 
A thin rftm-gutted fox made a hard shift to wiggle his 
body into a henroost. Sir ft. L' Estrange. 
To be sure the girl looks uncommonly bright and pretty 
with her pink cheeks, her bright eyes, her slim form. 
Thackeray, Philip, xvii. 
He straightway drew out of the desk a dim volume of 
gray paper. Thackeray, Philip, xxxviii. 
Hence 2. Slight; flimsy; unsubstantial: as, 
slim work. 
Slim ivory chairs were set about the room. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 327. 
3. Delicate; feeble. [Colloq.] 
She 's had nliin health of late years. I tell 'em she 's 
been too much shut up out of the fresh air and sun. 
S. 0. Jewett, Deephaven, p. 169. 
4. Slight; weak; trivial. 
The church of Rome indeed was allowed to be the prin- 
cipal church. But why ? Was it in regard to the succes- 
sion of St. Peter? no, that was a dim excuse. 
Barrov, Pope's Supremacy. 
5. Meager; small: as, a slim chance. 6. Worth- 
less ; bad ; wicked. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
= Syn. 1. Lank, gaunt, meager. 
slim 1 (slim), v. .; pret. and pp. slimmed, ppr. 
slimming. [< slim 1 , a.] To scamp one's work ; 
do work in a careless, superficial manner. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
8lim 2 t, " A Middle English form of slime. 
slime (slim), w. [< ME. slime, styme, slim, slym, 
< AS. slim = D. slijm, slime, phlegm, = MLG. 
slim = OHG. "slim (cf. slimen, make smooth), 
MHG. slim, G. schleim = Icel. slim, slime, = 
Sw. slem, slime, phlegm, = Dan. slim, mucus, 
phlegm, = Goth. *sleims (not recorded) ; prob. 
= L. limus (for "slimwt), slime, mud, mire. Not 
connected with OBulg. slina = Buss, slina. etc., 
saliva, slaver, drivel, mucilage, which are ult. 
connected with E. speic.] 1. Any soft, ropy, 
glutinous, or viscous substance, (a) Soft moist 
earth having an adhesive quality ; viscous mud. 
Lettyn sailis doun slyde, & in slym fallyn. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 13281. 
Stain'd, as meadows, yet not dry, 
With miry slime left on them by a flood. 
Shak., Tit. And., iii. 1. 125. 
(6) Asphalt or bitumen. 
She took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with 
Mme and with pitch. Ex. ii. 3. 
The very clammie slime Bitumen, which at certaine 
times of the yeere floteth and swimmeth upon the lake of 
Sodome, called Asphaltites in Jurie. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, vii. 15. 
(c) A mucous, viscous, or glutinous substance exuded from 
the bodies of certain animals, notably fishes and mollusks : 
as, the slime of a snail. In some cases this slime is the se- 
cretion of a special gland, and it may on hardening form 
a sort of operculum. See slime-gland, clausUium, and hi- 
bernaculum, 3 (6). 
O foul descent ! that I, who erst contended 
With gods to sit the highest, am now constrain'd 
Into a beast : and, mix'd with bestial slime, 
This essence to incarnate and imbrute. 
Milton, P. L., ix. 165. 
sling 
There the slow blind-worm left his slimr 
On the fleet limbs that mocked at time. 
Scott, L. of the L., iii. 5. 
2. Figuratively, anything of a clinging and of- 
fensive nature ; cringing or fawning words or 
actions. 
The slime 
That sticks on filthy deeds. 
Shak., Othello, v. 2. 148. 
3. In metal., ore reduced to a very fine powder 
and held in suspension in water, so as to form 
a kind of thin ore-mud : generally used in the 
plural. In the slimes the ore is in a state of almost im- 
palpable powder, so that it requires a long time for set- 
tling. Set- tailhiyx. Foxy slime, a marked discoloration 
of field-ice, yellowish-red in color. 
slime (slim), v. t. ; pret. and pp. slimed, ppr. 
sliming. [< slime, re.] I. traits. 1. To cover 
with or as with slime; make slimy. 
Snake-like slimed his victim ere he gorged. 
Tennyson, Sea Dreams. 
2. To remove slime from, as fish for canning. 
H. intrans. To become slimy ; acquire slime. 
slime-eel (slim'el), it. The glutinous hag, 
Myxine glutinosa. See cut under hug. 
slime-fungus (slim'fung'gus), n. Same as 
xlime-miild. 
slime-gland (slim ' gland), w. In conch., the 
gland which secretes the slimy or mucous sub- 
stance which moistens snails, slugs, etc. 
slime-mold (slim'mold), . A common name 
for fungi of the group Myxomycetes (which 
see for characterization). See also Mycetozoa, 
dlthalium, jilasmodiuni, 3. 
slime-pit (slim 'pit), n. 1. An asphalt- or bitu- 
men-pit. 
And the vale of si. Mini was full of slime-pit*. 
Gen. xiv. 10. 
In an hour the bitumen was exhausted for the time, the 
dense smoke gradually died away, and the pale light of 
the moon shone over the black slime-pits. Layard. 
2. In metal., a tank or large reservoir of any 
kind into which slimes are conducted in order 
that they may have time to settle, or in which 
they maybe reserved for subsequent treatment. 
See slime, 3, and tailings. 
slime-sponge (slim'spunj), . A sponge of 
the order or group Myxospongix; a gelatinous 
sponge. 
slimily (sli'mi-li), adv. In a slimy manner, 
literally or figuratively. 
sliniiness (sli'mi-nes), n. The quality of being 
slimy; viscosity; slime. 
By a weak fermentation a pendulous sliminess is pro- 
duced, which answers a pituitous state. 
SirJ. Flayer, Preternatural State of the Animal Humours. 
[(Latham,) 
slimly (slim'li), adr. In a slim manner; slen- 
derly; thinly; sparsely; scantily: as, a slimly 
attended meeting. 
slimmer (slim'er), a. [Appar. an extension of 
slim 1 .] Delicate ; easily hurt. [Scotch.] 
Being a gentlewoman both by blood and education, 
she 's a very slimmer affair to handle in a doing of this 
kind. Gait, Ayrshire Legatees, p. 59. 
slimmish (slim'ish), . [<s/i 1 + -w/|l.] Some- 
what slim. 
He 's a slimmish chap. 
D. Jerrold, Hist. St. Giles and St. James, I. 314. (Hoppe.) 
slimness (slim'nes), . Slim character or ap- 
pearance; slenderness. 
slimsy (slim'zi), a. [Also sometimes slimpsy, 
slimpsey ; < slim 1 + -sy as in flimsy. Cf. Sw. 
slimsa, a lump, clod.] 1. Flimsy; frail; thin 
and unsubstantial : as, slimsy calico. [U.S.] 
The building is old and slimsy. 
S. Jvail, Margaret, ii. 8. 
2. Idle; dawdling. [Prov. Eng.] 
slimy (sli'mi), a. [< ME. xlimy, < AS. slimig (= 
D. slijmig = G. schleimig), slimy, < slim, slime: 
see slime.'] 1. Slime-like; of the nature, ap- 
pearance, or consistency of slime ; soft, moist, 
ropy, and disagreeably adhesive or viscous : as, 
the slimy sediment in a drain ; the slimy exuda- 
tion of an eel or a snail. 2. Abounding with 
slime : as, a slimy soil. 3. Covered with slime. 
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs 
Upon the slimy sea ! 
Coleridge, Ancient Mariner, Ii. 
slinch (slinch), r. /. [An assibilated form of 
.W/nfri.] An obsolete or dialectal form of dink' 1 . 
With that the wounded prince departed quite. 
From sight he slinchte, I sawe his shade no more. 
Mir. for Mags., 1587. (Nares.) 
sliness, . Soc .Wi/<.. 
sling 1 (sling), c. ; pret. and pp. slung, ppr. sling- 
ing. [< ME. xliityen, slyngen (pret. slang, slong, 
pp. slinii/eit, xlongen), < AS. slingan (pret. "slang, 
pp. "slit iii/'-ti ; very rare) = MD. xliiigheii = MLG. 
