slipping

Etymology

verb

1. present participle and gerund of slip

noun

1. The act of something that slips; a slip; a skidding or sudden loosening motion.
   slippings and slidings
   The "King" responded well to this treatment and would have maintained 60 m.p.h. up the steepest part had it not been for a brief bout of slipping, which was quickly corrected by Driver Bailes ("Autumn leaves", he remarked laconically). 1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Part, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 105