slather

[slath -er]Informal.

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verb (used with object)

to spread or apply thickly: to slather butter on toast.

to spread something thickly on (usually followed by with): to slather toast with butter.

to spend or use lavishly.

noun

Often slathers. a generous amount: slathers of money.

Idioms

open slather, Australian. complete freedom.

Origin of slather

1810–20, in sense “to slip, slide”; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for slather

oodles, portray, sketch, depict, coat, cover, draw, daub, wash, tint, design, decorate, dye, brush, scrub, knead, glaze, scrape, grind, paint

Examples from the Web for slather

Contemporary Examples of slather

I slather my body in Swedish Beauty Black Diamond cream with “Tingle Tanning Power.”
My Great Fake Bake Experiment
Daniel Nester
January 6, 2009

Historical Examples of slather

No, sir, there aint sech a slather of folks up here to mix in with, by any count.
The Corner House Girls Snowbound
Grace Brooks Hill

British Dictionary definitions for slather

slather

noun

(usually plural) informal a large quantity

open slather Australian and NZ slang a situation in which there are no restrictions; free-for-all

verb (tr) US and Canadian slang

to squander or waste

to spread thickly or lavishly

Word Origin for slather

C19: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for slather

"spread liberally," 1847, of uncertain origin. Early 19c. local glossaries from western England have the word with a sense "to slip or slide."

Slather on the manure on all the hoed crops, if you have it; if not buy of your improvident neighbor. ["Genesee Farmer," June 1847]

Sometimes said to be from a dialectal noun meaning "large amount" (usually as plural, slathers), but this is first attested 1855. Related: Slathered; slathering.