slice

noun, verb, adj — 26 senses

slice

noun

/slaɪs/

Etymology From Middle English sclise, sklise, from Old French esclice, esclis (“a piece split off”), deverbal of esclicer, esclicier (“to splinter, split up”), from Frankish *slitjan (“to split up”), from Proto-Germanic *slitjaną, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to split, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyd- (“to rend, injure, crumble”). Akin to Old High German sliz, gisliz (“a tear, rip”), Old High German slīȥan (“to tear”), Old English slītan (“to split up”), modern French éclisse. More at slite, slit.

17 senses
  1. 1That which is thin and broad.
  2. 2A thin, broad piece cut off.
  3. 3An amount of anything.
  4. 4A piece of pizza, shaped like a sector of a circle.
  5. 5A snack consisting of pastry with savoury filling.
  6. 6A broad, thin piece of plaster.
  7. 7A knife with a thin, broad blade for taking up or…
  8. 8A salver, platter, or tray.
  9. 9A plate of iron with a handle, forming a kind of chisel…
  10. 10One of the wedges by which the cradle and the ship are…
  11. 11A removable sliding bottom to a galley.
  12. 12A shot that (for the right-handed player) curves…
  13. 13A kind of cut shot where the bat makes an obtuse angle…
  14. 14Any of a class of heavy cakes or desserts made in a tray…
  15. 15A section of image taken of an internal organ using MRI…
  16. 16A hawk's or falcon's dropping which squirts at an angle…
  17. 17A contiguous portion of an array.
1

That which is thin and broad.

  • I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near enough, rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded the roof and a slice of the interior of the cabin.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
2

A thin, broad piece cut off.

  • a slice of bacon; a slice of cheese; a slice of bread
  • Jim was munching on a slice of toast.
3

Colloquial An amount of anything.

  • Blackpool, chasing a seventh win in 17 league matches, simply could not contain Sunderland's rampant attack and had to resort to a combination of last-ditch defending, fine goalkeeping and a large slice of fortune.2010 December 28, Owen Phillips, “Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool”, in BBC:
4

A piece of pizza, shaped like a sector of a circle.

  • For breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the best Guido meal is a slice and a Coke.2010, Andrea Renzoni, Eric Renzoni, Fuhgeddaboudit!, page 22:
5

UK A snack consisting of pastry with savoury filling.

  • I bought a ham and cheese slice at the service station.
6

A broad, thin piece of plaster.

7

A knife with a thin, broad blade for taking up or serving fish; also, a spatula for spreading anything, as paint or ink.

8

A salver, platter, or tray.

9

A plate of iron with a handle, forming a kind of chisel, or a spadelike implement, variously proportioned, and used for various purposes, as for stripping the planking from a vessel's side, for cutting blubber from a whale, or for stirring a fire of coals; a slice bar; a peel; a fire shovel.

10

One of the wedges by which the cradle and the ship are lifted clear of the building blocks to prepare for launching.

11

Media, Printing, Publishing A removable sliding bottom to a galley.

12

Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A shot that (for the right-handed player) curves unintentionally to the right. See fade, hook, draw.

13

Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A kind of cut shot where the bat makes an obtuse angle with the batter.

14

Australia, New Zealand, UK Any of a class of heavy cakes or desserts made in a tray and cut out into squarish slices.

15

Medicine, Sciences A section of image taken of an internal organ using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computed tomography), or various forms of x-ray.

16

Falconry, Hobbies, Hunting, Lifestyle A hawk's or falcon's dropping which squirts at an angle other than vertical. (See mute.)

17

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences A contiguous portion of an array.

Derived terms
37 termsbit slice, cake slice, caramel slice, cream slice, custard slice, egg slice, fish slice, fried slice, galley slice, hedgehog slice, home slice, hyperslice, interslice, it's been a slice, jumbo slice, microslice, midslice, minislice, multislice, nanoslice, Napoleon slice, orthoslice, slice bar, slice category, slice knot, slice of life, slice of the cake, slice of the pie, slice shop, slicewise, subslice, superslice, timeslice, time slice, vanilla slice, vibroslice, white Christmas slice

slice

verb

Etymology From Middle English sclise, sklise, from Old French esclice, esclis (“a piece split off”), deverbal of esclicer, esclicier (“to splinter, split up”), from Frankish *slitjan (“to split up”), from Proto-Germanic *slitjaną, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to split, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyd- (“to rend, injure, crumble”). Akin to Old High German sliz, gisliz (“a tear, rip”), Old High German slīȥan (“to tear”), Old English slītan (“to split up”), modern French éclisse. More at slite, slit.

8 senses
  1. 1To cut into slices.
  2. 2To cut with an edge using a drawing motion.
  3. 3To clear (e.g. a fire, or the grate bars of a furnace)…
  4. 4To hit the shuttlecock with the racket at an angle…
  5. 5To hit a shot that slices (travels from left to right…
  6. 6To angle the blade so that it goes too deeply into the…
  7. 7To kick the ball so that it goes in an unintended…
  8. 8To hit the ball with a stroke that causes a spin…
1

To cut into slices.

  • Slice the cheese thinly.
2

To cut with an edge using a drawing motion.

  • The knife left sliced his arm.
  • How could it all be / We've never been dead / But never awake from this dream / How could it all be / We've never been dead / Just mirrors running scared / Slicing wrists while we look for our own mortality / All the lights went out cold / Shadow covers the soul / Essence of the world made ceremonial / Now we all wait for the demise / What was the question? / Why do you need an answer? / You make me nauseous2013 March 12, “Prancer”, in Greg Puciato (lyrics), One of Us Is the Killer, performed by The Dillinger Escape Plan:
3

To clear (e.g. a fire, or the grate bars of a furnace) by means of a slice bar.

4

To hit the shuttlecock with the racket at an angle, causing it to move sideways and downwards.

5

Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To hit a shot that slices (travels from left to right for a right-handed player).

6

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Rowing, Sports To angle the blade so that it goes too deeply into the water when starting to take a stroke.

7

Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Soccer, Sports To kick the ball so that it goes in an unintended direction, at too great an angle or too high.

  • Chris Brunt sliced the spot-kick well wide but his error was soon forgotten as Olsson headed home from a corner.2011 October 22, Sam Sheringham, “Aston Villa 1 – 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:
8

Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Tennis To hit the ball with a stroke that causes a spin, resulting in the ball swerving or staying low after a bounce.

Derived terms
any way one slices it, cryoslice, misslice, no matter how one slices it, no matter how thin you slice it, it's still baloney, preslice, reslice, salami-slice, sliceability, sliceable, slice and dice, sliced bread, slice off, slicer, slicery, slice the pie, slice through, slice up, slow slicing, unslice

slice

adj

Etymology From Middle English sclise, sklise, from Old French esclice, esclis (“a piece split off”), deverbal of esclicer, esclicier (“to splinter, split up”), from Frankish *slitjan (“to split up”), from Proto-Germanic *slitjaną, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to split, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyd- (“to rend, injure, crumble”). Akin to Old High German sliz, gisliz (“a tear, rip”), Old High German slīȥan (“to tear”), Old English slītan (“to split up”), modern French éclisse. More at slite, slit.

1

Mathematics, Sciences Having the properties of a slice knot.

Derived terms
sliceness

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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