different between traipse vs slither

English

Alternative forms

• trapes

Etymology

Likely from French trépasser (“pass over or beyond”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?e?ps/, /t???e?ps/
• Rhymes: -e?ps

Verb

traipse (third-person singular simple present traipses, present participle traipsing, simple past and past participle traipsed)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To walk in a messy or unattractively casual way; to trail through dirt.
   • 1728, Alexander Pope, The Dunciad, Book III, ll. 140-4:

     Lo next two slipshod Muses traipse along, In lofty madness, meditating song, / With tresses staring from poetic dreams, / And never wash'd, but in Castalia’s streams [...].

2. (intransitive, colloquial) To walk about, especially when expending much effort, or unnecessary effort.
3. (transitive, colloquial) To walk (a distance or journey) wearily or with effort; to walk about or over (a place).

Synonyms

• (walk about): gad, travel, walk
• (walk about or over (a place)): cover, travel, traverse

Related terms

• trespass

Translations

Noun

traipse (plural traipses)

1. A long or tiring walk.

   It was a long traipse uphill all the way home.

Synonyms

• (long or tiring walk): hike, trek

Translations

Anagrams

• @ parties, Pirates, Prestia, airstep, eartips, parties, pastier, piaster, piastre, pirates, praties, rapiest, raspite, tapiser

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