slice
pronunciation
How to pronounce slice in British English:
UK [slaɪs]
How to pronounce slice in American English:
US [slaɪs]
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- Noun:
- a share of something
- a serving that has been cut from a larger portion
- a wound made by cutting
- a golf shot that curves to the right for a right-handed golfer
- a thin flat piece cut off of some object
- a spatula for spreading paint or ink
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- Verb:
- make a clean cut through
- hit a ball and put a spin on it so that it travels in a different direction
- cut into slices
- hit a ball so that it causes a backspin
Word Origin
- slice
- slice: [14] Slice comes from Old French esclice ‘splinter’, a derivative of the verb esclicier ‘reduce to splinters, shatter’. This in turn was acquired from Frankish *slītjan, a descendant of prehistoric Germanic *slītan ‘slit’ (source of English slit and possibly of slat and slate). English originally took over the word’s French meaning, but this had died out by the end of the 16th century. The modern sense ‘piece cut from something’ is first recorded in the early 15th century.=> slit
- slice (n.)
- c. 1300, "a fragment," from Old French escliz "splinter, fragment" (Modern French éclisse), a back-formation from esclicier "to splinter, shatter, smash," from Frankish *slitan "to split" or some other Germanic source (compare Old High German slihhan; see slit (v.)). Meaning "piece cut from something" emerged early 15c. Meaning "a slicing stroke" (in golf, tennis) is recorded from 1886. Slice of life (1895) translates French tranche de la vie, a term from French Naturalist literature.
- slice (v.)
- late 15c., from Middle French esclicier, from Old French escliz (see slice (n.)). Golfing sense is from 1890. Related: Sliced; slicing. Sliced bread introduced 1958; greatest thing since ... first attested 1969. No matter how thick or how thin you slice it it's still baloney. [Carl Sandburg, "The People, Yes," 1936]
Example
- 1. The destination is just a tiny slice of the journey .
- 2. You could at least slice me and give me an ounce of dignity .
- 3. Slice like a pro without risking a cut .
- 4. He and his colleagues took a thin slice of the main artery transporting blood from the heart , called the aorta , and placed it in a special microscope containing a sensitive needle tip .
- 5. Nepal wants a slice of that .