slick
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /slɪk/
rhymes: -ɪk
Forms: form: slicks
Etymology: From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”).
Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).
Senses: examples: text: Careful in turn three — there's an oil slick on the road.
text: The oil slick has now spread to cover the entire bay, critically endangering the sea life.
glosses: A covering of liquid, particularly oil.
topics: geography
hydrodynamics
hydrology
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: A rapidly-expanding ring of dark water, resembling an oil slick, around the site of a large underwater explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress through the water of the shock wave generated by the explosion.
glosses: Someone who is clever and untrustworthy.
glosses: A tool used to make something smooth or even.
examples: text: You'll go much faster if you put on slicks.
topics: automotive
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
transport
vehicles
synonyms: slick tire
slick tyre
glosses: A tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern, often used in auto racing.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: A helicopter.
examples: text: The project was delayed because the slick had not been delivered to the printer.
topics: media
printing
publishing
glosses: A camera-ready image to be used by a printer. The "slick" is photographed to produce a negative image which is then used to burn a positive offset plate or other printing device.
examples: text: Many of the stories in SSB [Sex Behind Bars] first appeared in gay slicks, Mandate, Honcho, First Hand, et al.
ref: 1981 December 1, Freddie Greenfield, “Insulting Prison Porn”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 20, page 11:
text: When Carver, wild to be published in a major slick, decided to accept the changes, Maryann accused him “of being a whore, of selling out to the establishment.”
ref: 2009 November 20, Stephen King, “Raymond Carver’s Life and Stories”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
topics: media
publishing
glosses: A glossy magazine.
glosses: A wide paring chisel used in joinery.
examples: text: I spent two fucking days locked up in that hotel room, miserable and hating myself and drenched in my own slick!
ref: 2017, "Tessa on Ice", quoted in Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega?: Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 41
text: For his ruts, Castiel orders slick from a single donor, who is, unbeknownst to him, Dean, who lives at the Roadhouse and is in contact with many of his colleagues and rescuees.
ref: 2019, Tessa Barone, "Just Go Find Yourself a Nice Alpha: Gender and Consent in Supernatural Fandom's Alpha/Beta/Omega Universe", thesis submitted to Oregon State University, page 32
text: She observed another parallel to menstruation, namely the abundance of 'slick' that Omegas produce when they go into heat, which mainly functions as an anal lubricant.
ref: 2019, Chris van der Vegt, "The Second Genders: Utopia and Dystopia in Stranger Things Omegaverse Fanfiction", thesis submitted to Utrecht University, page 23
topics: lifestyle
glosses: In omegaverse fiction, the copious, lubricating bodily fluid produced by an omega in heat.
examples: ref: 2019 January 30, winghurro, “I know it’s a slick, but is it worth anything more than spot because it’s a first year issue?”, in Reddit:
text: a slick doesn’t really give you anything except the satisfaction of owning it, while the hole gives you satisfaction if actually being able to see something
ref: 2021 February 16, hotwheelsearl, “Would you rather have a slick coin with barely any details, or a holed one with good details?”, in CoinTalk.com:
text: Somebody once came into the coin shop with a bunch of really well-worn junk silver that would commonly be called "slicks."
ref: 2014 January 6, CaptHenway, “How much metal is lost by weight from wear during circulation?”, in NGC Forums:
glosses: A silver coin that has been worn to the point its surface feels smooth to the touch.
Coordinate terms: crack
Derived terms: big slick
little slick
oil slick