Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A thick sticky slippery substance.
- n. Biology A mucous substance secreted by certain animals, such as catfishes and slugs.
- n. Soft moist earth; mud.
- n. A slurry containing very fine particulate matter.
- n. Vile or disgusting matter.
- n. Slang A despicable or repulsive person.
- v. To smear with slime.
- v. To remove slime from (fish to be canned, for example).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Any soft, ropy, glutinous, or viscous substance. Soft moist earth having an adhesive quality; viscous mud.
- n. Asphalt or bitumen.
- n. 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 secretion of a special gland, and it may on hardening form a sort of operculum. See slime-gland, clausiliumt and hibernaculum, 3 .
- n. Figuratively, anything of a clinging and offensive nature; cringing or fawning words or actions.
- n. In metallurgy, 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 impalpable powder, so that it requires a long time for settling. See
tailings . - To cover with or as with slime; make slimy.
- To remove slime from, as fish for canning.
- To become slimy: acquire slime.
Wiktionary
- n. Soft, moist earth or clay, having an adhesive quality; viscous mud; any substance of a dirty nature, that is moist, soft, and adhesive; bitumen; mud containing metallic ore, obtained in the preparatory dressing.
- n. Any mucilaginous substance; or a mucus-like substance which exudes from the bodies of certain animals, such as snails or slugs.
- n. Human flesh, seen disparagingly; mere human form.
- v. To coat with slime.
- v. To besmirch or disparage.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Soft, moist earth or clay, having an adhesive quality; viscous mud.
- n. Any mucilaginous substance; any substance of a dirty nature, that is moist, soft, and adhesive.
- n. Bitumen.
- n. Mud containing metallic ore, obtained in the preparatory dressing.
- n. A mucuslike substance which exudes from the bodies of certain animals.
- v. To smear with slime.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any thick, viscous matter
- v. cover or stain with slime
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old English slīm; see lei- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“I didnt see any strings on the rocket ship, but when you see the plastic slime inching up the ramp toward our crew, you know its a plastic sheet of slime, and the freaky tie-dye technique with the Venus sky is pure 1960s state of the art.”
“They warned the Clinton campaign against engaging in what they called slime politics and Obama told reporters he won't be swift-boated.”
“Now that is what I call a slime-ball but the sheepherders signed a contract knowing the terms.”
“Standing in slime, struggling with machines that don't work, hosted by merchants who don't care -- this isn't fair to the Oregon consumer who just wants to do the right thing.”
“Mr. Wilson, standing butt naked and covered from head to toe in slime before a joint meeting of Congress, should apologise to the President and the American people for his crude and childish behavior.”
“Steele might as well have said “slime is not a crime”.”
Think Progress » 170 House Republicans rebuff Steele by voting to ban RNC’s ‘Census’ mailer.
“Covered in slime, the pirate fisherman slumps on the ground.”
“Jackson will probably love the chance to be covered in slime!!”
Twilight Lexicon » Jackson Rathbone Headed to Kids Choice Awards
“Game of Life says: repugs constituents as dumber than slime from a hagfish.”
“But saints in slime - ah, that was the everlasting wonder!”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘slime’.
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Coal Mining Terms
Coal mining has engendered fascinating subcultures in industry, labor, music, folklore, environment and energy. It has a rich vocabulary as well, and I've encountered some gorgeous mining words. I...
firedamp, scrip, bituminous, anthracite, company store, blackdamp, brattice, bug dust, tipple, whitedamp, float dust, fly ash and 133 more...
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A Glossary of Filth
A compilation of those nitty-gritty yucky terms for substances and situations that we prefer not to encounter. Please folks, keep it clean; avoid the overly offensive ones.
"the terms...schmutz, smegma, muck, snarge, sewerage, mecomium, sewage, sebum, toe jam, pus, sludge, backwash and 105 more...
mollusque He dreamed of mellowing his pigments as the Old Masters had done--with honey, fig juice, poppy oil, and the slime of pink snails.
--Vladimir Nabokov, 1957, Pnin, p. 67 Nov 16, 2007