slime
Americannoun
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thin, glutinous mud.
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any ropy or viscous liquid matter, especially of a foul kind.
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a viscous secretion of animal or vegetable origin.
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Also called slimeball. Slang. a repulsive or despicable person.
verb (used with object)
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to cover or smear with or as if with slime.
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to remove slime from, as fish for canning.
noun
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soft thin runny mud or filth
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any moist viscous fluid, esp when noxious or unpleasant
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a mucous substance produced by various organisms, such as fish, slugs, and fungi
verb
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to cover with slime
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to remove slime from (fish) before canning
Usage
What else does slime mean? What’s up, slime? Slime is slang for a (usually male) "friend," often used as a term of address, like dude or bro.
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has slimedperfect 3rd person singular
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have slimedperfect
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is slimingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been slimingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been slimingperfect progressive
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slimingparticiple
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are slimingprogressive
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slimessingular 3rd person
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am slimingprogressive 1st person singular
Past
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had slimedperfect
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were slimingprogressive plural
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was slimingprogressive singular
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had been slimingperfect progressive
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slimedparticiple
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slimedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of slime
before 1000; Middle English slyme, Old English slīm; cognate with Dutch slijm, German Schleim, Old Norse slīm
Explanation
Slime is a substance that's slippery, damp, and gooey, like the slime that grows on the bottom on a swimming pool if it's not cleaned often enough. People are generally disgusted by slime, so if your dinner guest comments that your famous spinach soufflé looks like slime, you'll probably feel insulted. Like your spinach soufflé, slime is usually greenish in color, though the clear stuff a snail leaves behind is slime too. If you slime something, you cover it in a slimy substance. Experts believe that slime comes from the Old English lim, "sticky substance," which shares a root with the Russian slimak, or "snail."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Slime was gently lapping ashore just a few feet away.
From Salon • Aug. 16, 2025
As DA, Willis pursued racketeering indictments against more than two-dozen people affiliated with the alleged street gang Young Slime Life, including award-winning rapper Young Thug.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 15, 2023
Have we checked on the Slime Puppy brigade?
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2023
Slime lovers who don’t want to spend their time mixing ingredients can purchase ready-made slime in scents including “cotton candy frosted cake” and “cherry cola freeze.”
From Washington Post • Jun. 30, 2022
There’s even a very sticky-looking Slime Magazine beside a Supernatural Geographic.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
