I. ˈslik verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English sliken; akin to Old English nīgslȳcod newly smoothed, glossy, Old High German slīhhan to glide — more at slick II
transitive verb
1.
a. : to make (a surface) flat or slippery : level , polish
a spatula is used to slick … the flour on a board — Correspondence Course in Flour Milling
men … were slicking the skids with grease — James Dugan
b. : to give an elegant finish to : refine , smarten
slicked up and sentimentalized the … rough-hewn original story — Time
called in a decorator to slick it up, turning the … café into a restaurant de luxe — A.J.Liebling
c. : sleek 2
2.
a. : to give a smooth and glossy appearance to (the hair) especially by combing with water or pomade : plaster
hair slicked down and then brushed up in a barber's curl above his left eye — B.A.Williams
b. : to make presentable : spruce up
dress as if they were slicked up for Saturday night in town — J.H.Jackson
Mother was … a great one for keepin' things slicked up — J.C.Lincoln
intransitive verb
1. : to spruce up : make oneself presentable
he slicked up and courted her in the regular way — Helen Rich
2. : to glide smoothly : slip
the logs slicked along without jamming or stranding — Hugh Fosburgh
II. adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English slike, akin to Middle High German slīch slime, Old High German slīhhan to glide, Old Norse slīkr smooth, Greek ligdēn grazing the surface, leios smooth — more at lime
1.
a. : having a glassy surface : smooth , slippery
waters slick with oil — Time
the grass was slick from the night's dew, and the men slipped frequently as they moved downhill — Norman Mailer
b. : having surface glitter : polished but not profound : glib , glossy
an entertaining job of slick writing, all surface and no depth — B.R.Redman
turned out slick and sound conventional likenesses in the best School of Fine Arts manner — Time
c. : lacking in complexity or originality : obvious , contrived
the young gentlemen are altogether too pat, and the adventures which befall them altogether too slick — Virginia Woolf
neatly plotted story of the slick variety, easily read, soon forgotten — Jerome Stone
no slick solutions, no easy cures are peddled — R.J.McCracken
2. archaic : sleek 1
fattens all their beasts of war, and makes them slick and fine — John Fryer
3.
a. : characterized by subtlety or nimble wit : clever , ingratiating
this slick type of youngster anticipates exactly how adults will react to him and plays on their sensibilities — Agnes Meyer
a good many slick sales tricks — J.M.Guilfoyle
approached this problem in … too unctuous and slick a mood — A.M.Schlesinger b.1917
especially : wily
a pair of slick operators had given the district a bad name by salting a barren claim — Oscar Lewis
b. : characterized by expert proficiency : deft , skillful
a notable level of slick technical perfection in every department — Arthur Knight
smooth ground attack and incredibly slick passing attack — New Yorker
4. : extremely good : first-rate
5. : lacking identification marks : unbranded — used of livestock on the range
6.
a. : sleek 3
b. or slick-paper ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ : of, relating to, being, or conforming to the standards of a slick
slick fiction
nationally circulated slick and quality magazines — Paul Roberts
appeals to the slick-paper or carriage trade — Rosemary Benét
III. adverb
: cleverly , smoothly
IV. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : something that is smooth or slippery
snow left an icy slick on the roads
especially : a smooth patch of water often covered with a film of oil
band slicks on the sea surface … are commonly seen along the shore when the wind is a light breeze — G.C.Ewing
searchers spotted an oil slick … and what might be the wreckage of a plane — New York Times
b. : a film of oil
an oily slick drifted away from our boat — Field & Stream
2. : an implement for producing a slick surface: as
a. : a flat paddle now usually of steel for smoothing a sample of flour
b. : a foundry tool for smoothing the surface of a sand mold or unbaked core
3. : an unbranded range animal
all of them added to their herds by branding slicks — Bruce Siberts
— compare slick-ear
4. : a shrewd or untrustworthy operator
slicks … exploited the plight of their brothers to ease their own paths — H.W.Baldwin
5. chiefly Midland : a treeless area in the southern Appalachians covered by a dense shrubby tangle usually of rhododendron or mountain laurel
6. : a large-circulation consumer magazine printed on coated stock and usually characterized by articles chosen for popular appeal and fiction limited to formulized stories with happy endings
calculating editors of the slicks, who design moonshine to suit popular taste — Leo Marx
— compare pulp 5a
V. transitive verb
or slick·er -kə(r)
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: slick from slick (II) ; slicker from slicker, n.
: to defraud cleverly : outsmart , trick
explanations … only tended to confirm them in the notion that they were being slicked — R.W.Riis & Webb Waldron
VI. noun
: a smooth tire used for racing cars on dry paved surfaces