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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ulmus fulva

Slippery \Slip"per*y\, a. [See Slipper, a.]

  1. Having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; allowing or causing anything to slip or move smoothly, rapidly, and easily upon the surface; smooth; glib; as, oily substances render things slippery.

  2. Not affording firm ground for confidence; as, a slippery promise.

    The slippery tops of human state.
    --Cowley.

  3. Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away.

    The slippery god will try to loose his hold.
    --Dryden.

  4. Liable to slip; not standing firm.
    --Shak.

  5. Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant; fickle. ``The slippery state of kings.''
    --Denham.

  6. Uncertain in effect.
    --L'Estrange.

  7. Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals. --Shak. Slippery elm. (Bot.)

    1. An American tree ( Ulmus fulva) with a mucilagenous and slightly aromatic inner bark which is sometimes used medicinally; also, the inner bark itself.

    2. A malvaceous shrub ( Fremontia Californica); -- so called on the Pacific coast.