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.
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.
