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, slicing 

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, slicing 

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. 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. to cut in a clean and effortless manner

3. to move or go (through something) like a knife

   the ship sliced through the water

4. 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

Other Word Forms

• sliceable adjective
• slicingly adverb
• preslice verb (used with object)
• unsliced adjective
• slicer noun

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

Your emerging-market bond funds just got riskier: If you own a fund that holds sovereign debt from developing countries, and most diversified portfolios do, you probably own a slice of Argentina’s bonds.

Read more on MarketWatch

We carefully removed all the cream slices from a big box of Oreos and formed a ball.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Retail sales represent a large slice of consumer spending, the main pillar of growth for the U.S. economy.

Read more on MarketWatch

Then there’s the cloud, where Amazon owns the largest slice of market share but faces competition from Microsoft Corp.

Read more on MarketWatch

He once sliced open his hand during a scene where he was cutting cheese; Romano went to the hospital to be sewn up and then returned to finish the episode.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• carve 
• cleave 
• divide 
• hack 
• sever 
• shave 
• shred 
• slash 
• slit 
• split 
• strip