I. ˈslīs noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English sklise, slice, from Middle French esclice, esclisse splinter, thin piece of wood, from Old French, from esclicier to splinter — more at slice II
1.
a. : a thin flat portion that is cut from something
a slice of bread
a slice of roast beef
b. : chip I 1i
c. : something that resembles a slice
looked … through the narrow slice of window in the tower room — Kay Boyle
2.
a. obsolete : a spatula or paddle used especially for mixing or spreading medical compounds
b. : a knife with a broad or wedge-shaped blade used especially for serving food
a fish slice
c. archaic : an iron bar flattened at one end for use as a fire shovel
d. : a tool with a flat blade for scraping or stripping (as for flensing a whale) ; specifically : slice bar
e.
(1) : the removable sliding bottom of a printer's slice galley
(2) : ink knife
3. : a part separated from the whole : segment , share
territorial claims to slices of Antarctica — J.D.M.Blyth
make a bid for a slice of the … prize money — H.W.Young
for plot must be substituted the reality of a slice of life — F.B.Millett
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English sklicen, from Middle French esclicier, esclissier to splinter, from Old French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German slīzan to tear apart — more at slit
transitive verb
1.
a. : to cut with or as if with a knife
slice bread
slice a melon in two
slice hickory sapwood for chair-bottom splints — American Guide Series: Arkansas
jets slice the air like giant scythes — Claudia Cassidy
production would be sliced by more than half — Newsweek
b. : to divide into segments as if by cutting
the chimney's shade … slices the glistening roof — Thomas Vance
the data … have not been sliced in all the ways that they might — R.M.Goldman
2.
a. : to cut off cleanly with or as if with a knife
this machine slices off a narrow edge from each envelope — J.R.Gregg
the industry will be able to slice $30,000,000 from its … annual fuel bill — D.C.Spaulding
b.
(1) : to cut a passage through
expressways … slice our parks — Joseph Hudnut
(2) : to make by or as if by slicing
slice an opening in a wall
troops … sliced their way through the crumpled resistance — Police Gazette
3. : to stir, spread, or clear with a slice
slice printer's ink
slice a grate
4. : to hit (as a golf ball or tennis ball) so that a slice results — distinguished from drive ; compare hook II 6b
intransitive verb
1. : to cut or seem to cut cleanly
the turbine blade … sliced into the fuel line — J.A.Michener
wind … slicing through his overcoat as though it were the thinnest cotton — Irwin Shaw
2.
a. : to move with a cutting action often on the diagonal
the planes sliced on over — James Jones
the luxury liner … sliced through the Atlantic today in quest of a speed record — New Orleans States
the bull's horn slicing by his shoulder — Barnaby Conrad
b. : to hew a passage
a four-lane superhighway … slices through the craggy sierra — Lamp
3.
a. : to put a slice on a stroke or ball
b. of a ball : to curve in flight in the direction of a slice
III. noun
( -s )
: a flight of a ball (as in golf, tennis, volley ball) that deflects to the right of a right-handed player or to the left of a left-handed player usually as a result of being hit across its center line ; also : a ball following such a course — compare hook , spin