aslither
adjEtymology From a- + slither.
1
Slithering.
- The gravel was soft and loose in the banks, and we tried to stay near the middle of the road; our rear wheel moved us all aslither, and we rode with our weight off the seat, pushed forward on the foot pedals.1968, John Irving, Setting Free the Bears, New York: Pocket Books, published 1979, Part 1, p. 41:
- One of these big boys came up to me, aslither, on his feet, no skates.1982, Marina Warner, The Skating Party, New York: Atheneum, published 1983, Part 1, Chapter 11, p. 92:
2
Covered (with or in something slithering or slippery).
- Under the vaulted architraves [of the fish and poultry market], the white marble slabs all aslither with hunks and fillets remind you why they used to call it ‘wet fish’.1976, Angela Carter, “The Donnie Ferrets”, in Nothing Sacred, London: Virago, published 1982, page 68:
- Through February and March our try-pots boiled and the decks were aslither with oil.1984, Henry Carlisle, The Jonah Man, Penguin, published 1985, Part 2, Chapter 3, p. 77:
1 more example
- 1985, Martin Collins, “Tour de la Vanoise” in Walt Unsworth (ed.), Classic Walks of the World, The Oxford Illustrated Press, p. 44, If the weather has been warm, this can prove a tiresome stretch, aslither in snow with the consistency of porridge.