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Taper vs Slim - What's the difference?

taper | slim |

As nouns the difference between taper and slim

is that taper is a slender wax candle; a small lighted wax candle; hence, a small light or taper can be (weaving) one who operates a tape machine while slim is slime, mucus.

As a verb taper

is to make thinner or narrower at one end.

taper

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) taper, from (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A slender wax candle; a small lighted wax candle; hence, a small light.
  • * ~1603 , William Shakespeare, ''Othello, Act I, scene I, line 157:
    • strike on the tinder, ho!/ Give me a taper .
  • * 1913 ,
    • Love used to carry a bow, you know,
    But now he carries a taper ;
    It is either a length of wax aglow,
    Or a twist of lighted paper.
  • A tapering form; gradual diminution of thickness and/or cross section in an elongated object
    • the taper of a spire.
    The legs of the table had a slight taper to them.
  • A thin stick used for lighting candles, either a wax-coated wick or a slow-burning wooden rod.
    • Derived terms
    * taperwise

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make thinner or narrower at one end.
  • * 1851 ,
    • Though true cylinders without — within, the villanous green goggling glasses deceitfully tapered downwards to a cheating bottom.
  • To diminish gradually.
    • Derived terms
    * taper off
    Synonyms
    * narrow

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (weaving) One who operates a tape machine.
  • Someone who works with tape or tapes.

    • Anagrams

    * ----

    slim

    English

    Adjective

    (slimmer)
  • Slender, thin.
  • # (of a person or a person's build) Slender in an attractive way.
  • Movie stars are usually slim , attractive, and young.
  • # (by extension, of clothing) Designed to make the wearer appear slim.
  • # (of an object) Long and narrow.
  • # (of a workforce) Of a reduced size, with the intent of being more efficient.
  • (of something abstract like a chance or margin) Very small, tiny.
    • I'm afraid your chances are quite slim .
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=January 15 , author=Saj Chowdhury , title=Man City 4 - 3 Wolves , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Wolves' debatable third in the last 10 minutes, with the ball only crossing the line by the slimmest of margins if at all, ensured a cracking finale, although City would have been left aggrieved had they let the win slip. }}
  • (South Africa) Sly, crafty.

    • Synonyms

    * See also

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A type of cigarette substantially longer and thinner than normal cigarettes.
    • I only smoke slims .
  • (East Africa) AIDS, or the chronic wasting associated with its later stages.
  • * {{quote-book, 2003, Charled F. Gilks, editors=David A. Warrell et al., chapter=HIV in the Developing World, Oxford Textbook of Medicine, edition=4th ed., volume=Volume 1 citation
    • , passage=As in the West, only about 50 per cent of patients with slim fully investigated will have a putative pathogen identified.}}
  • (slang, uncountable) Cocaine.

    • Alternative forms

    * (AIDS) Slim

    Verb

  • To lose weight in order to achieve slimness

    • Anagrams

    * * ----