What is "slide rule"

Slide \Slide\, n. [AS. sl[=i]de.]

1. The act of sliding; as, a slide on the ice.

2. Smooth, even passage or progress.

   A better slide into their business.
   --Bacon.

3. That on which anything moves by sliding. Specifically:

   1. 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.

   2. A surface of ice or snow on which children slide for amusement.

4. That which operates by sliding. Specifically:

   1. A cover which opens or closes an aperture by sliding over it.

   2. (Mach.) A moving piece which is guided by a part or parts along which it slides.

   3. A clasp or brooch for a belt, or the like.

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.

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.

7. (Geol.) A small dislocation in beds of rock along a line of fissure.
   --Dana.

8. (Mus.)

   1. A grace consisting of two or more small notes moving by conjoint degrees, and leading to a principal note either above or below.

   2. 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.

9. (Phonetics) A sound which, by a gradual change in the position of the vocal organs, passes imperceptibly into another sound.

10. (Steam Engine)

    1. Same as Guide bar, under Guide.

    2. A slide valve. 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.

       1. Any valve which opens and closes a passageway by sliding over a port.

       2. 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.

Slide rule \Slide" rule`\, n. a thin, flat calculating device consisting of a fixed outer piece and a movable middle piece. Both pieces are graduated in such a way (as, by a logarithmic scale) that multiplication, division, and other mathematical functions of an input variable may be rapidly determined by movement of the middle pieces to a location on one scale corresponding to the input value, and reading off the result on another scale. A movable window with a hairline assists in alignment of the scales. This device has been largely superseded by the electronic calculator, which has a greater precision than the slide rule. Also called colloquially slipstick.

n. An analog calculator consisting of three interlocking strips marked with logarithmic scales, such that multiplication, division etc. can be performed by the equivalent of addition and subtraction.

n. analog computer consisting of a handheld instrument used for rapid calculations; have been replaced by pocket calculators [syn: slipstick]

Slide Rule is the sixth solo album by dobro player Jerry Douglas, released in 1992 (see 1992 in music). It was his first release on the Sugar Hill label.

Guest musicians include Alison Krauss, Sam Bush and Tim O'Brien.

Slide Rule (1940 - ) was a Thoroughbred race horse who was owned by William E. Boeing of Boeing. He sired by Metropolitan and Suburban Handicap winner, Snark and was out of the mare King's Idyll, a daughter of the outstanding Champion sire and broodmare sire, Sir Gallahad III.

He was a stablemate of the more noted Devil's Thumb, and in April 1943, of the colt Twoses. Newspaper reports of the early 1940s described him as a little chestnut colt.

A slide rule is a mechanical analog computer.

Slide Rule may also refer to:

• Slide Rule (album), a 1992 album by Jerry Douglas
• Slide Rule (horse), thoroughbred racehorse
• Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer, a partial autobiography of the British novelist Nevil Shute

The slide rule, also known colloquially in the United States as a slipstick, is a mechanical analog computer. The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for functions such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but is not normally used for addition or subtraction. Though similar in name and appearance to a standard ruler, the slide rule is not ordinarily used for measuring length or drawing straight lines.

Slide rules exist in a diverse range of styles and generally appear in a linear or circular form with a standardized set of markings (scales) essential to performing mathematical computations. Slide rules manufactured for specialized fields such as aviation or finance typically feature additional scales that aid in calculations common to those fields.

The Reverend William Oughtred and others developed the slide rule in the 17th century based on the emerging work on logarithms by John Napier. Before the advent of the pocket calculator, it was the most commonly used calculation tool in science and engineering. The use of slide rules continued to grow through the 1950s and 1960s even as digital computing devices were being gradually introduced; but around 1974 the handheld electronic scientific calculator made it largely obsolete and most suppliers left the business.