Skip to main content
PlainSpell

slide

/ˈslaɪ̯d/verb, noun

slide is spelled S-L-I-D-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, slide means “To (cause to) move in continuous contact with a surface” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in slide?

Letters5: S-L-I-D-E
Syllables1
In writing20 times per million words; the 4,302nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is slide?

Slide appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce slide?

  • /ˈslaɪ̯d/
  • [ˈslaɪ̯d]
  • /ˈslɛɪd/

Slide has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-slide.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with slide?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as slide.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: sidle.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of slide

  • slides present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • sliding participle, present
  • slid past, participle
  • slidden participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does slide mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To (cause to) move in continuous contact with a surface.

    He slid the boat across the grass.

  2. 2

    To move on a low-friction surface.

    The car slid on the ice.

  3. 3

    To drop down and skid into a base.

    Jones slid into second.

  4. 4

    To lose one’s balance on a slippery surface.

    He slid while going around the corner.

  5. 5

    To pass or put imperceptibly; to slip.

    to alter the meaning of a question by sliding in a word

  6. 6

    To subtly direct a facial expression at (someone).

    He slid me a dirty look.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo pass inadvertently.

  8. 8

    To pass along smoothly or unobservedly; to move gently onward without friction or hindrance.

    A ship or boat slides through the water.

noun

  1. 1

    An item of play equipment that children can climb up and then slide down again.

    The long, red slide was great fun for the kids.

  2. 2

    A surface of ice, snow, butter, etc. on which someone can slide for amusement or as a practical joke.

  3. 3

    The falling of large amounts of rubble, earth and stones down the slope of a hill or mountain; avalanche.

    The slide closed the highway.

  4. 4

    An inclined plane on which heavy bodies slide by the force of gravity, especially one constructed on a mountainside for conveying logs by sliding them down.

  5. 5

    A mechanism, or portion of one, consisting of a part which slides on or against a guide.

    On many semiautomatic pistols, the barrel is beneath the slide.

  6. 6

    The act of sliding; smooth, even passage or progress.

    a slide on the ice

  7. 7

    A lever that can be moved in two directions.

  8. 8

    Synonym of slider (“movable part of a zip fastener that opens or closes the row of teeth”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Slide in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchglisser (to cause to move in continuous contact with a…), déraper (to pass inadvertently), toboggan, glissoire, glissade (item of play equipment), glissement (rubble, earth and stones moving down)
Germangleiten (to cause to move in continuous contact with a…), Rutsche, Rutschbahn (item of play equipment), ausrutschen (to lose balance), rutschen (to pass along smoothly), Rutschfläche (slippery surface for someone to slide on)
Portuguesedeslizar (to cause to move in continuous contact with a…), escorrega, escorregador, escorregadeira (item of play equipment), deslizamento (rubble, earth and stones moving down), escorregar (to move in continuous contact with a surface)
Spanishdeslizar (to cause to move in continuous contact with a…), tobogán, resbaladilla (item of play equipment), resbalar, deleznarse, deslizarse (to move in continuous contact with a surface)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does slide come from?

Inherited from Middle English sliden, from Old English slīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *slīdan, from Proto-Germanic *slīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sléydʰeti, from *h₃sleydʰ- (“slippery”) + *-eti.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after slide