| slippery | 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. 5. Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant; fickle. "The slippery state of kings." 6. Uncertain in effect. 7. Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals. Slippery elm. <botany> An American tree (Ulmus fulva) with a mucilagenous and slightly aromatic inner bark which is sometimes used medicinally; also, the inner bark itself. A malvaceous shrub (Fremontia Californica); so called on the Pacific coast. See: Slipper. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
|---|