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slick - 10 dictionary results

slick

1  [slik] adjective, -er, -est, noun, adverb
Use slick in a Sentence
–adjective
1. smooth and glossy; sleek.
2. smooth in manners, speech, etc.; suave.
3. sly; shrewdly adroit: He's a slick customer, all right.
4. ingenious; cleverly devised: a slick plan to get out of work.
5. slippery, esp. from being covered with or as if with ice, water, or oil.
6. deftly executed and having surface appeal or sophistication, but shallow or glib in content; polished but superficial; glib: a writer who has mastered every formula of slick fiction.
7. Slang. wonderful; remarkable; first-rate.
–noun
8. a smooth or slippery place or spot or the substance causing it: oil slick.
9. Informal.
a. a magazine printed on paper having a more or less glossy finish.
b. such a magazine regarded as possessing qualities, as expensiveness, chic, and sophistication, that hold appeal for a particular readership, as one whose members enjoy or are seeking affluence.
c. such a magazine regarded as having a sophisticated, deftly executed, but shallow or glib literary content. Compare pulp (def. 6).
10. any of various paddlelike tools for smoothing a surface.
11. Automotive. a wide tire without a tread, used in racing.
12. Military Slang. a helicopter.
–adverb
13. smoothly; cleverly.
Origin:
1300–50; ME slike (adj.); c. dial. D sleek even, smooth; akin to slick 2

Related forms:
slickly, adverb
slickness, noun

Synonyms:
3. wily, tricky, foxy, sharp.

slick

2  [slik]
–verb (used with object)
1. to make sleek or smooth.
2. to use a slicker on (skins or hides).
3. Informal. to make smart or fine; spruce up (usually fol. by up).
–noun
4. Metallurgy. a small trowel used for smoothing the surface of the mold.
5. any woodworking chisel having a blade more than 2 in. (5 cm) wide.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME slicken (v.), OE slician; akin to ON slīkja to give a gloss to
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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slick   (slĭk)   
adj.   slick·er, slick·est
  1. Smooth, glossy, and slippery: sidewalks slick with ice. See Synonyms at sleek.
  2. Deftly executed; adroit: "as slick as a sonnet, but as dull as ditch water" (Tallulah Bankhead).
  3. Shrewd; wily.
  4. Superficially attractive or plausible but lacking depth or soundness: a slick writing style. See Synonyms at glib.
n.  
  1. A smooth or slippery surface or area.
    1. A floating film of oil.
    2. A trail of floating material: a garbage slick.
  3. An implement used to make a surface slick, especially a chisel used for smoothing and polishing.
  4. Informal A magazine, usually of large popular readership, printed on high-quality glossy paper.
  5. A racing automobile tire with a smooth tread.
  6. Slang An unarmed military aircraft, especially a helicopter.
tr.v.   slicked, slick·ing, slicks
  1. To make smooth, glossy, or oily.
  2. Informal To make neat, trim, or tidy: slicked themselves up for the camera.

[Middle English slike, from Old English *slice; see lei- in Indo-European roots. V., Middle English sliken, from Late Old English -slīcian, -slȳcian (in nīgslȳcod, freshly smoothed).]
slick'ly adv., slick'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slick

Slick\, n. A slick, or smooth and slippery, surface or place; a sleek.

The action of oil upon the water is upon the crest of the wave; the oil forming a slick upon the surface breaks the crest. --The Century.

Slick

Slick\, a. [See Sleek.] Sleek; smooth. "Both slick and dainty." --Chapman.

Slick

Slick\, v. t. To make sleek or smoth. "Slicked all with sweet oil." --Chapman.

Slick

Slick\, n. (Joinery) A wide paring chisel.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : slick
Spanish: mañoso,
German: geschickt,
Japanese: 巧みな
More Translations »

slick  (v.)
O.E. -slician (attested in nigslicod "newly made sleek"), from P.Gmc. *slikojanan, from base *slikaz (cf. O.N. slikr "smooth," O.H.G. slihhan, Ger. schleichen "to creep, crawl, sneak," Du. slijk "mud, mire"), from PIE *sleig- "to smooth, glide, be muddy," from base *(s)lei- "slimy" (cf. O.E. lim "birdlime;" L. limus "slime," linere "to anoint;" Skt. linati "sticks, stays"). The adj. is first attested c.1300, "smooth, glossy, sleek" (of skin or hair); sense of "clever in deception" is first recorded 1599.

slick  (n.)
1626, a kind of cosmetic, from slick (v.). Meaning "smooth place on the surface of water caused by oil, etc." is attested from 1849. Meaning "a swindler, clever person" is attested from 1959.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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slick

glassy patch or streak on a relatively undisturbed ocean or lake surface, formed where surface tension is reduced by a monomolecular layer of organic matter produced by plankton or by man; closer to shore most of the material is man-made hydrocarbon pollutant. Slicks are patchy when the wind velocity is less than about 13 kilometres per hour (7 knots). Winds with higher velocities break slicks into narrow, closely spaced windrows aligned parallel to the wind direction. Elongate parallel slicks may also form over and migrate with the trailing slopes of internal waves

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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