from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Slide \Slide\, n. [AS. sl[imac]de.]
1. The act of sliding; as, a slide on the ice.
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2. Smooth, even passage or progress.
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A better slide into their business. --Bacon.
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3. That on which anything moves by sliding. Specifically:
(a) An inclined plane on which heavy bodies slide by the
force of gravity, esp. one constructed on a mountain
side for conveying logs by sliding them down.
(b) A surface of ice or snow on which children slide for
amusement.
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4. That which operates by sliding. Specifically:
(a) A cover which opens or closes an aperture by sliding
over it.
(b) (Mach.) A moving piece which is guided by a part or
parts along which it slides.
(c) A clasp or brooch for a belt, or the like.
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5. A plate or slip of glass on which is a picture or
delineation to be exhibited by means of a magic lantern,
stereopticon, or the like; a plate on which is an object
to be examined with a microscope.
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6. The descent of a mass of earth, rock, or snow down a hill
or mountain side; as, a land slide, or a snow slide; also,
the track of bare rock left by a land slide.
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7. (Geol.) A small dislocation in beds of rock along a line
of fissure. --Dana.
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8. (Mus.)
(a) A grace consisting of two or more small notes moving
by conjoint degrees, and leading to a principal note
either above or below.
(b) An apparatus in the trumpet and trombone by which the
sounding tube is lengthened and shortened so as to
produce the tones between the fundamental and its
harmonics.
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9. (Phonetics) A sound which, by a gradual change in the
position of the vocal organs, passes imperceptibly into
another sound.
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10. (Steam Engine)
(a) Same as {Guide bar}, under {Guide}.
(b) A slide valve.
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{Slide box} (Steam Engine), a steam chest. See under {Steam}.
{Slide lathe}, an engine lathe. See under {Lathe}.
{Slide rail}, a transfer table. See under {Transfer}.
{Slide rest} (Turning lathes), a contrivance for holding,
moving, and guiding, the cutting tool, made to slide on
ways or guides by screws or otherwise, and having compound
motion.
{Slide rule}, a mathematical instrument consisting of two
parts, one of which slides upon the other, for the
mechanical performance of addition and subtraction, and,
by means of logarithmic scales, of multiplication and
division.
{Slide valve}.
(a) Any valve which opens and closes a passageway by
sliding over a port.
(b) A particular kind of sliding valve, often used in
steam engines for admitting steam to the piston and
releasing it, alternately, having a cuplike cavity in
its face, through which the exhaust steam passes. It
is situated in the steam chest, and moved by the
valve gear. It is sometimes called a {D valve}, -- a
name which is also applied to a semicylindrical pipe
used as a sliding valve.
[1913 Webster] In the illustration, a is the cylinder
of a steam engine, in which plays the piston p; b the
steam chest, receiving its supply from the pipe i,
and containing the slide valve s, which is shown as
admitting steam to one end of the cylinder through
the port e, and opening communication between the
exhaust passage f and the port c, for the release of
steam from the opposite end of the cylinder.
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