different between slither vs swagger

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sl?ð.?(?)/
• Rhymes: -?ð?(r)

Verb

slither (third-person singular simple present slithers, present participle slithering, simple past and past participle slithered)

1. (intransitive) To move about smoothly and from side to side.
2. (intransitive) To slide
   • 2003, J. Flash, An American Savage

     I bent down and with both hands I scooped up as much of this pissshit as I could. The green and brown clump felt like Jello as it dripped down all over my clothes. It was slithering through inbetween my fingers.

Derived terms

• aslither
• slitherlink
• Slytherin

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

slither

1. (archaic) slithery; slippery

Noun

slither (uncountable)

1. A limestone rubble.
2. (nonstandard, see usage notes) A sliver.

Usage notes

The use of slither to mean sliver, which is prevalent especially in Britain (where th-fronting is becoming more and more prevalent), is considered by many to be an error, though at least one major dictionary merely labels it "informal" [1].

See also

• sliver

Anagrams

• Hirtles, Hitlers, Shitler, relisht

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?swæ?.?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?swæ?.?/
• Rhymes: -æ??(r)

Etymology 1

A frequentative form of swag (“to sway”), first attested in 1590, in A Midsummer Night's Dream III.i.79:

• PUCK: What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here?

Verb

swagger (third-person singular simple present swaggers, present participle swaggering, simple past and past participle swaggered)

1. To behave (especially to walk or carry oneself) in a pompous, superior manner.
   • 1845, Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil

     a man who swaggers about London clubs

2. To boast or brag noisily; to bluster; to bully.
   • 1698, Jeremy Collier, A Moral Essay upon Pride

     To be great is not […] to swagger at our footmen.

   • 1724, Jonathan Swift, The Drapier’s Letters, Dublin and London, 1730, Letter 1, p. 14,^[1]

     For the common Soldier when he goes to the Market or Ale-house will offer this Money, and if it be refused, perhaps he will SWAGGER and HECTOR, and Threaten to Beat the BUTCHER or Ale-Wife, or take the Goods by Force, and throw them the bad HALF-PENCE.
3. To walk with a swaying motion.

Derived terms

• swaggerer
• swaggeringly
• swagger it
• aswagger

Translations

Noun

swagger (countable and uncountable, plural swaggers)

1. Confidence, pride.
2. A bold or arrogant strut.
3. A prideful boasting or bragging.

Translations

Adjective

swagger (comparative more swagger, superlative most swagger)

1. (slang, archaic) Fashionable; trendy.
   • 1899, Robert Barr, Jennie Baxter, Journalist

     It is to be a very swagger affair, with notables from every part of Europe, and they seem determined that no one connected with a newspaper shall be admitted.

   • 15 March, 1896, Ernest Rutherford, letter to Mary Newton

     Mrs J.J. [Thomson] looked very well and was dressed very swagger and made a very fine hostess.

   • 1908, Baroness Orczy, The Old Man in the Corner

     Mrs. Morton was well known for her Americanisms, her swagger dinner parties, and beautiful Paris gowns.

Etymology 2

Noun

swagger (plural swaggers)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, historical) Synonym of swagman

References

Anagrams

• waggers