Part 478

Slip"-on` (?), n. A kind of overcoat worn upon the shoulders in the manner of a cloak. [Scot.]

Slip"page (?), n. The act of slipping; also, the amount of slipping.

Slip"per (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, slips.

2. A kind of light shoe, which may be slipped on with ease, and worn in undress; a slipshoe.

3. A kind of apron or pinafore for children.

4. A kind of brake or shoe for a wagon wheel.

5. (Mach.) A piece, usually a plate, applied to a sliding piece, to receive wear and afford a means of adjustment; -- also called shoe, and gib.

Slipper animalcule (Zoöl.), a ciliated infusorian of the genus Paramecium. -- Slipper flower.(Bot.) Slipperwort. - - Slipper limpet, or Slipper shell (Zoöl.), a boat shell.

Slip"per, a. [AS. slipur.] Slippery. [Obs.]

O! trustless state of earthly things, and slipper hope Of mortal men.

Spenser.

Slip"pered (?), a. Wearing slippers. Shak.

Slip"per*i*ly (?), adv. In a slippery manner.

Slip"per*i*ness, n. The quality of being slippery.

Slip"per*ness, n. Slipperiness. [Obs.]

Slip"per*wort` (?), n. (Bot.) See Calceolaria.

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.