slice

Etymology

From Middle English sclise, sklise, from Old French esclice, esclis (“a piece split off”), deverbal of esclicer, esclicier (“to splinter, split up”), from Frankish *slitjan (“to split up”), from Proto-Germanic *slitjaną, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to split, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyd- (“to rend, injure, crumble”). Akin to Old High German sliz, gisliz (“a tear, rip”), Old High German slīzan (“to tear”), Old English slītan (“to split up”), modern French éclisse. More at slite, slit.

noun

1. That which is thin and broad.
2. A thin, broad piece cut off.
   a slice of bacon; a slice of cheese; a slice of bread
   Jim was munching on a slice of toast.
3. (colloquial) An amount of anything.
   Blackpool, chasing a seventh win in 17 league matches, simply could not contain Sunderland's rampant attack and had to resort to a combination of last-ditch defending, fine goalkeeping and a large slice of fortune. December 28, 2010, Owen Phillips, “Sunderland 0 - 2 Blackpool”, in BBC
4. A piece of pizza, shaped like a sector of a circle.
   For breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the best Guido meal is a slice and a Coke. 2010, Andrea Renzoni, Eric Renzoni, Fuhgeddaboudit!, page 22
5. (Britain) A snack consisting of pastry with savoury filling.
   I bought a ham and cheese slice at the service station.
6. A broad, thin piece of plaster.
7. A knife with a thin, broad blade for taking up or serving fish; also, a spatula for spreading anything, as paint or ink.
8. A salver, platter, or tray.
9. A plate of iron with a handle, forming a kind of chisel, or a spadelike implement, variously proportioned, and used for various purposes, as for stripping the planking from a vessel's side, for cutting blubber from a whale, or for stirring a fire of coals; a slice bar; a peel; a fire shovel.
10. One of the wedges by which the cradle and the ship are lifted clear of the building blocks to prepare for launching.
11. (printing) A removable sliding bottom to a galley.
12. (golf) A shot that (for the right-handed player) curves unintentionally to the right. See fade, hook, draw.
13. (Australia, New Zealand, UK) Any of a class of heavy cakes or desserts made in a tray and cut out into squarish slices.
14. (medicine) A section of image taken of an internal organ using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computed tomography), or various forms of x-ray.
15. (falconry) A hawk's or falcon's dropping which squirts at an angle other than vertical. (See mute.)
16. (programming) A contiguous portion of an array.

verb

1. (transitive) To cut into slices.
   Slice the cheese thinly.
2. (transitive) To cut with an edge utilizing a drawing motion.
   The knife left sliced his arm.
3. (transitive) To clear (e.g. a fire, or the grate bars of a furnace) by means of a slice bar.
4. (transitive, badminton) To hit the shuttlecock with the racket at an angle, causing it to move sideways and downwards.
5. (transitive, golf) To hit a shot that slices (travels from left to right for a right-handed player).
6. (transitive, rowing) To angle the blade so that it goes too deeply into the water when starting to take a stroke.
7. (transitive, soccer) To kick the ball so that it goes in an unintended direction, at too great an angle or too high.
   Chris Brunt sliced the spot-kick well wide but his error was soon forgotten as Olsson headed home from a corner. 22 October 2011, Sam Sheringham, “Aston Villa 1 – 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport
8. (transitive, tennis) To hit the ball with a stroke that causes a spin, resulting in the ball swerving or staying low after a bounce.

adj

1. (mathematics) Having the properties of a slice knot.