Dictionary

aslither en · ADJ

Etymology

From a- + slither.

Meanings

1. Slithering.
   • The gravel was soft and loose in the banks, and we tried to stay near the middle of the road; our rear wheel moved us all aslither, and we rode with our weight off the seat, pushed forward on the foot pedals. 1968, John Irving, Setting Free the Bears, New York: Pocket Books, published 1979, Part 1, p. 41:
   • One of these big boys came up to me, aslither, on his feet, no skates. 1982, Marina Warner, The Skating Party, New York: Atheneum, published 1983, Part 1, Chapter 11, p. 92:
2. Covered (with or in something slithering or slippery).
   • Through February and March our try-pots boiled and the decks were aslither with oil. 1984, Henry Carlisle, The Jonah Man, Penguin, published 1985, Part 2, Chapter 3, p. 77:
   • Under the vaulted architraves [of the fish and poultry market], the white marble slabs all aslither with hunks and fillets remind you why they used to call it ‘wet fish’. 1976, Angela Carter, “The Donnie Ferrets”, in Nothing Sacred, London: Virago, published 1982, page 68:
   • 1985, Martin Collins, “Tour de la Vanoise” in Walt Unsworth (ed.), Classic Walks of the World, The Oxford Illustrated Press, p. 44, If the weather has been warm, this can prove a tiresome stretch, aslither in snow with the consistency of porridge.

Forms