slither

Meanings

Verb

• To move about smoothly and from side to side.
• To slide

Adjective

• slithery; slippery

Noun

• A limestone rubble.
• A sliver.

Origin

• From Middle English slitheren, alteration of slideren, from Old English slidrian ("to slip, slide, slither"), from Proto-West Germanic *slidrōn ("to slide, slither"), from Proto-Indo-European *sleydʰ- ("to slip"), equivalent to slide + -er. Cognate with Dutch slidderen ("to slip, wriggle, slither"), German schlittern. More at slide.