slippery elm

2 definitions found

slippery elm - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Slippery \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.
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     2. Not affording firm ground for confidence; as, a slippery
        promise.
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              The slippery tops of human state.     --Cowley.
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     3. Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away.
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              The slippery god will try to loose his hold.
                                                    --Dryden.
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     4. Liable to slip; not standing firm. --Shak.
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     5. Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant;
        fickle. "The slippery state of kings." --Denham.
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     6. Uncertain in effect. --L'Estrange.
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     7. Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals. --Shak.
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     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.
            [1913 Webster]

slippery elm - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  slippery elm
      n 1: North American elm having rough leaves that are red when
           opening; yields a hard wood [syn: slippery elm, red elm
           , Ulmus rubra]