slim

[slim] /slɪm/
adjective, slimmer, slimmest.
1.
slender, as in girth or form; slight in build or structure.
2.
poor or inferior:
a slim chance; a slim excuse.
3.
small or inconsiderable; meager; scanty:
a slim income.
4.
sized for the thinner than average person.
verb (used with object), slimmed, slimming.
5.
to make slim.
verb (used without object), slimmed, slimming.
6.
to become slim.
7.
Chiefly British. to try to become more slender, especially by dieting.
noun
8.
a garment size meant for a thin person.
Verb phrases
9.
slim down,
  1. to lose weight, especially intentionally.
  2. (of a business) to reduce operating expenses; economize.
Origin
1650-60; < Dutch slim sly, (earlier) crooked (cognate with German schlimm bad, (earlier) crooked)
Related forms
slimly, adverb
slimness, noun
unslim, adjective
unslimly, adverb
unslimness, noun
unslimmed, adjective
Synonyms
1. thin. See slender. 3. insignificant, trifling, trivial, paltry.
Antonyms
1. fat. 3. considerable; abundant.
Examples from the web for slim
  • It will be wonderful in a few weeks, but as of now the pickings are slim.
  • The object at hand is silver and imperially slim, a fast and famous airplane.
  • Local blues radio programming-which thrived during the blues heyday-is slim to nonexistent.
  • The barnacle sheds a good portion of its body and, slim as a slug, slips into the hole at the base of one of the crab's hairs.
  • The chances that we'll trap and collar a lynx today are slim.
  • The collectors are separated by windows portraying a mansion, but connected by slim organs.
  • As to the other, unless he be caught red-handed, the chances that the police will ever get him are slim indeed.
  • When radiance came running down, slim through the bareness.
  • Emerging-market companies are obsessed by finding new markets to make up for their slim profit margins.
  • Barely five months later, the government's chances of imposing this draconian punishment look slim.
British Dictionary definitions for slim

slim

/slɪm/
adjective slimmer, slimmest
1.
small in width relative to height or length
2.
small in amount or quality: slim chances of success
verb slims, slimming, slimmed
3.
to make or become slim, esp by diets and exercise
4.
to reduce or decrease or cause to be reduced or decreased
See also slim down
Derived Forms
slimly, adverb
slimmer, noun
slimness, noun
Word Origin
C17: from Dutch: crafty, from Middle Dutch slimp slanting; compare Old High German slimbi obliquity

Slim1

/slɪm/
noun
1.
the E African name for AIDS
Word Origin
from its wasting effects

Slim2

/slɪm/
noun
1.
William Joseph, 1st Viscount. 1891–1970, British field marshal, who commanded (1943–45) the 14th Army in the reconquest of Burma (now called Myanmar) from the Japanese; governor general of Australia (1953–60)
Word Origin and History for slim
adj.

1650s, "thin, slight, slender," from Dutch slim "bad, sly, clever," from Middle Dutch slim "bad, crooked," from Proto-Germanic *slembaz "oblique, crooked" (cf. Middle High German slimp "slanting, awry," German schlimm "bad, cunning, unwell"). In English 17c. also sometimes with a sense "sly, cunning, crafty." Related: Slimly; slimness. With obsolete extended adjectival forms Slimsy "flimsy, unsubstantial" (1845); slimikin "small and slender" (1745). Slim Jim attested from 1887 in sense of "very thin person;" from 1902 as a type of slender cigar; from 1975 as a brand of meat snack.

v.

1808, "to scamp one's work, do carelessly or superficially," from slim (adj.). Meaning "to make slim" (a garment, etc.) is from 1862; meaning "reduce (one's) weight" is from 1930. Related: Slimmed; slimming.

Slang definitions & phrases for slim

slim

noun

A cigarette (1960s+ Jazz musicians)


slim in Technology


A VLSI language for translating DFA's into circuits. J.L. Hennessy, "SLIM: A Simulation and Implementation Language for VLSI Microcode", Lambda, Apr 1981, pp.20-28.
[Jargon File]

jargon
A small, derivative change (e.g. to code).
(2003-05-13)