I. slice 1 S3 /slaɪs/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: esclice 'thin piece broken off' , from esclicier 'to splinter' ]
1 . a thin flat piece of food cut from a larger piece
slice of
a slice of bread
pizza slices
thin/thick slice
a thin slice of ham
Cut the tomatoes into slices.
2 . a part or share of something
slice of
Everybody wants a slice of the profits.
3 . fish slice British English a kitchen tool used for lifting and serving pieces of food SYN spatula American English
4 . a way of hitting the ball in sports such as tennis or golf, that makes the ball go to one side with a spinning movement, rather than straight ahead
5 . a slice of life a film, play, or book which shows life as it really is
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ a thin slice
Serve it with thin slices of bread and butter.
▪ a thick slice
Cut the aubergine into thick slices.
▪ a large/big slice
He was eating a large slice of chocolate cake.
▪ a small slice
She politely accepted a small slice of pie.
▪ a generous slice (=thick or big)
He cut Donald a generous slice of ham.
■ verbs
▪ cut a slice
He cut another slice of bread.
▪ cut something into slices
Cut the orange into thin slices.
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THESAURUS
▪ piece an amount of something that has been cut or separated from the main part:
Could I have another piece of cake?
|
a piece of broken glass
|
Emma cut the pie into eight pieces.
▪ bit a piece. Bit is more informal than piece and is often used about smaller pieces:
The notes were written on bits of paper.
|
He threw a bit of wood onto the fire.
▪ lump a small piece of something solid or firm that does not have a regular shape:
two lumps of sugar
|
a lump of coal
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a lump of clay
▪ scrap a small piece of paper, cloth etc that is no longer needed:
I wrote the phone number on a scrap of paper.
|
The dog was eating scraps of food off the floor.
▪ strip a long narrow piece of cloth, paper etc:
a strip of cloth
|
The leather had been cut into strips.
▪ sheet a thin flat piece of something such as paper, glass, or metal:
a blank sheet of paper
|
a sheet of aluminium
▪ slice a thin flat piece of bread, cake, meat etc cut from a larger piece:
a slice of pizza
|
Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.
▪ chunk a piece of something solid that does not have a regular shape – used especially about food, rock, or metal:
The fruit was cut into large chunks.
|
a chunk of bread
▪ hunk a large piece with rough edges, which has been cut or has broken off a bigger piece of food, rock etc:
a big hunk of cheese
|
hunks of concrete
▪ block a piece of something solid, which has straight sides:
concrete blocks
|
a block of cheese
|
a block of ice
▪ slab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc:
The floor had been made from stone slabs.
|
a slab of beef
▪ cube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food:
a cube of sugar
|
ice cubes
▪ wedge a piece that has a thick end and a pointed end, and is shaped like a ↑ triangle – used especially about food and metal:
a wedge of cheese
▪ bar a block of soap, chocolate, candy, or metal, which has straight sides:
a chocolate bar
|
a bar of soap
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gold bars worth more than £26 million
▪ rasher British English a slice of bacon:
I usually have two rashers of bacon for breakfast.
II. slice 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . [transitive] ( also slice up ) to cut meat, bread, vegetables etc into thin flat pieces ⇨ chop :
Thinly slice the cucumbers.
Slice up the onions and add them to the meat.
sliced ham
2 . [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition] to cut something easily with one movement of a sharp knife or edge
slice into/through
The blade’s so sharp it could slice through your finger.
slice something in two/half
Slice the eggs in two and arrange them on a serving dish.
3 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to move quickly and easily through something such as water or air
slice through/into
The boat was slicing through the sparkling waves.
4 . [transitive] to hit a ball, for example in tennis or golf, so that it spins sideways instead of moving straight forward:
With an open goal in front of him, Wiltord sliced his shot wide of the left post.
5 . any way you slice it American English spoken whatever way you choose to consider the situation:
It’s the truth, any way you slice it.
slice something ↔ off phrasal verb
1 . to remove part of something by cutting it with one movement of a sharp knife or edge SYN cut off :
His knife had slipped and sliced off the top of his finger.
2 . to reduce a cost or total by a particular amount quickly and easily
slice something off something
By using volunteers, we were able to slice £10,000 off the cost of the project.
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THESAURUS
▪ cut to divide something into two or more pieces, especially using a knife or ↑ scissors :
Do you want me to cut the cake?
|
He cut off the lower branches.
▪ snip to quickly cut something, especially using ↑ scissors :
I snipped the label off.
|
The hairdresser snipped away at her hair.
▪ slit to make a long narrow cut through something, especially using a knife:
He slit the envelope open with a penknife.
|
She slit through the plastic covering.
▪ slash to cut something quickly and violently with a knife, making a long thin cut:
Someone had slashed the tyres on his car.
|
He tried to slash his wrists.
▪ saw to cut wood, using a ↑ saw (=a tool with a row of sharp points) :
Saw the wood to the correct length.
▪ chop to cut wood, vegetables, or meat into pieces:
Bill was outside chopping up firewood with an axe.
|
They chopped down the old tree.
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finely chopped onion
▪ slice to cut bread, meat, or vegetables into thin pieces:
I’ll slice the cucumber.
|
Slice the bread thinly.
▪ dice to cut vegetables or meat into small square pieces:
First dice the apple into cubes.
▪ grate to cut cheese or a hard vegetable by rubbing it against a special tool:
Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the vegetables.
▪ peel to cut the outside part off something such as a potato or apple:
I peeled the potatoes and put them in a saucepan.
▪ carve to cut thin pieces from a large piece of meat:
Uncle Ray carved the turkey.
▪ mow to cut the grass in a garden, park etc:
A gardener was mowing the lawn.
▪ trim ( also clip ) to cut a small amount off something, especially to make it look neater:
He was trimming his beard.
|
Trim the excess fat off the meat.