slice

[ slahys ]

noun

1. a thin, flat piece cut from something:

   a slice of bread.

2. a part, portion, or share:

   a slice of land.

3. any of various implements with a thin, broad blade or part, as for turning food in a frying pan, serving fish at the table, or taking up printing ink; spatula.
4. Sports.
   1. the path described by a ball, as in baseball or golf, that curves in a direction corresponding to the side from which it was struck.
   2. a ball describing such a path.
5. Tennis. a stroke executed by hitting down on the ball with an underhand motion and thus creating backspin.

verb (used with object)

, sliced, slic·ing.

1. to cut into slices; divide into parts.
2. to cut through or cleave with or as if with a knife:

   The ship sliced the sea.

3. to cut off or remove as a slice or slices (sometimes followed by off, away, from, etc.).
4. to remove by means of a slice, slice bar, or similar implement.
5. Sports. to hit (a ball) so as to result in a slice.

verb (used without object)

, sliced, slic·ing.

1. to slice something.
2. to admit of being sliced.
3. Sports.
   1. (of a player) to slice the ball.
   2. (of a ball) to describe a slice in flight.

slice

/ slaɪs /

noun

1. a thin flat piece cut from something having bulk

   a slice of pork

2. a share or portion

   a slice of the company's revenue

3. any of various utensils having a broad flat blade and resembling a spatula
4. in golf, tennis, etc
   1. the flight of a ball that travels obliquely because it has been struck off centre
   2. the action of hitting such a shot
   3. the shot so hit

verb

1. to divide or cut (something) into parts or slices
2. whenintr, usually foll by through to cut in a clean and effortless manner
3. whenintr, foll by through to move or go (through something) like a knife

   the ship sliced through the water

4. usually foll byoff, from, away, etc to cut or be cut (from) a larger piece
5. tr to remove by use of a slicing implement
6. to hit (a ball) with a slice
7. tr rowing to put the blade of the oar into (the water) slantwise

Derived Forms

• ˈsliceable, adjective
• ˈslicer, noun

Other Words From

• slicea·ble adjective
• slicing·ly adverb
• pre·slice verb (used with object) presliced preslicing
• un·sliced adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slice¹

1300–50; (noun) Middle English s ( c ) lice < Old French esclice, noun derivative of esclicer to split up < Frankish *slitjan, akin to Old English slītan, Old Norse slīta, Dutch slījten ( slit ); (v.) late Middle English sklicen < Old French esclicer

Word History and Origins

Origin of slice¹

C14: from Old French esclice a piece split off, from esclicier to splinter

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the subsequent idiom beginning with slice , also see greatest thing since sliced bread ; no matter how you slice it .

Example Sentences

That’s because the service, like most social media apps, slices and dices user data to better understand what users want.

From Fortune

Ethiopia’s planned opening up of the country’s telecommunications sector had international companies jostling to be among the first to get a slice of a largely untapped industry in Africa’s fastest growing economy.

From Quartz

Quantum physics prohibits any slice of time smaller than about 10-43 seconds, a period known as the Planck time.

From Science News

The city of San Diego has a small slice of the district and Democratic candidate Kenya Taylor got 27 percent of the vote.

From Voice of San Diego

So what we need to do is we need to join every other industrialized country in the world and pass a value-added tax which would give the public a slice, a sliver of every Amazon transaction, every Google search.

From Freakonomics

Finding the shop is a trip in itself and an introduction to a slice of history.

From The Daily Beast

The robots can slice through stone and rough out vast blocks of stone while the artisans are sleeping.

From The Daily Beast

“There were moments when I was just really tempted to have a slice of pizza or a cheeseburger,” he says.

From The Daily Beast

The Good Lie should have been a slice of history, the likes of which never to be repeated.

From The Daily Beast

If you drink a diet soda, are you more likely to give yourself permission to have a slice of cake later?

From The Daily Beast

Well, the pudding moment arrived, and a huge slice almost obscured from sight the plate before us.

From Project Gutenberg

"Take some melon, Mr. Mudge," said we, as with a sudden bolt we recovered our speech and took another slice ourself.

From Project Gutenberg

Ethel found a small boy looking ready to cry at an untouched slice of beef.

From Project Gutenberg

She even noticed one little thief that darted in and pecked shamelessly at her own slice.

From Project Gutenberg

Paul went on talking in a quiet, low tone, while Digby was munching a thick slice of bread-and-butter.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• portion
• sliver
• wedge