slither

English

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slither

/ˈslɪðə/ Australia, UK
/ˈsləðə/ New Zealand
/ˈslɪvə/
/ˈslɪðɚ/ US
/ˈslɪðəɾ/ Scotland

Sounds like sliver (th-fronting) · Rhymes with -ɪðə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English slitheren, alteration of slideren (“to slither, creep”), from Old English slidrian (“to slip, slide, slither”), from Proto-West Germanic *slidrōn (“to slide, slither”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- (“to slip”), equivalent to slide + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Dutch slidderen (“to slip, wriggle, slither”), German schlittern (“to slither, skid”). More at slide.

verb slithers · slithering · slithered

intransitive To move about smoothly and from side to side. [Indiana:] Wave it at anything that slithers. [Marion:] The whole place is slithering!
intransitive To slide. Some snow slides recorded have exceeded a million tons and slithered down the mountain-side at a speed of 60 miles an hour.

adjective

archaic Slithery; slippery.

noun slithers

countable, uncountable A limestone rubble.
countable, nonstandard, uncountable A sliver.
collective, countable, uncountable A group of snakes. On Sunday night’s episode of “The White Lotus,” Walton Goggins’ character Rick throws open the doors to cages containing a slither of snakes, resulting in another character being hospitalized for a snakebite.

Translations

Every language

verb to move smoothly from side to side

Español	reptar, ratear
Português	rastejar, serpear, serpentear, serpentar, zigue-zaguear, ondear
Français	ramper, glisser en ondulant
Italiano	strisciare

verb to slide

Español	deslizarse
Português	deslizar
Français	glisser, se faufiler
Deutsch	schlittern, rutschen
Italiano	scivolare

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MLA

"slither." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/slither. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

slither. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/slither

Chicago

"slither." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/slither.

BibTeX

@misc{slither_2026,
  title = {slither},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/slither},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}