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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

slither.

To move about smoothly and from side to side.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈslɪðə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ˈsləðə/New-Zealand/ˈslɪvə//ˈslɪðɚ/General-American

  1. To move about smoothly and from side to side.

    intransitive

  2. To slide.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English slitheren, alteration of slideren (“to slither, creep”), from Old English slidrian (“to slip, slide, slither”), from Proto-West Germanic *slidrōn (“to slide, slither”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- (“to slip”), equivalent to slide + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch slidderen (“to slip, wriggle, slither”), German schlittern (“to slither, skid”). More at slide.

adj/ˈslɪðə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ˈsləðə/New-Zealand/ˈslɪvə//ˈslɪðɚ/General-American

  1. Slithery; slippery.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

From Middle English slitheren, alteration of slideren (“to slither, creep”), from Old English slidrian (“to slip, slide, slither”), from Proto-West Germanic *slidrōn (“to slide, slither”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- (“to slip”), equivalent to slide + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch slidderen (“to slip, wriggle, slither”), German schlittern (“to slither, skid”). More at slide.

noun/ˈslɪðə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ˈsləðə/New-Zealand/ˈslɪvə//ˈslɪðɚ/General-American

  1. A limestone rubble.

    countable · uncountable

  2. A sliver.

    countable · nonstandard · uncountable

  3. A group of snakes.

    collective · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English slitheren, alteration of slideren (“to slither, creep”), from Old English slidrian (“to slip, slide, slither”), from Proto-West Germanic *slidrōn (“to slide, slither”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- (“to slip”), equivalent to slide + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch slidderen (“to slip, wriggle, slither”), German schlittern (“to slither, skid”). More at slide.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.