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Waft vs Slide - What's the difference?

waft | slide | Related terms |

In ergative terms the difference between waft and slide

is that waft is to (cause to) float easily or gently through the air while slide is to (cause to) move in continuous contact with a surface.

In intransitive terms the difference between waft and slide

is that waft is to be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float while slide is to pass along smoothly or unobservedly; to move gently onward without friction or hindrance.

waft

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (ergative) To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
  • * A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils.
  • * 1922 , (James Joyce), Chapter 13
  • Through the open window of the church the fragrant incense was wafted and with it the fragrant names of her who was conceived without stain of original sin…
  • * 1914 , Hugh G. Evelyn-White’s translation of Hymn to Aphrodite from the .[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D6]
  • There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously.
  • To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
  • * Dryden
  • And now the shouts waft near the citadel.
  • To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
  • * Shakespeare
  • But soft: who wafts us yonder?

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A light breeze.
  • Something (a scent or odor), such as a perfume, that is carried through the air.
  • * 1908 ,
  • Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously.
  • * 2010 September, "The SLM'' Calendar", , ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 170:
  • Patrol Magazine says of this Oxford, Miss., band: "Guitars are responsible for every noise in Colour Revolt's mix—not a single note of piano, waft of synthesizer, or evidence of electronic tampering are to be found."
  • (nautical) A flag, (also called a waif or wheft), used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal.
  • slide

    English

    Verb

  • (ergative) To (cause to) move in continuous contact with a surface
  • He slid the boat across the grass.
    The safe slid slowly.
    Snow slides down the side of a mountain.
  • To move on a low-friction surface.
  • The car slid on the ice.
  • * (rfdate), Waller:
  • They bathe in summer, and in winter slide .
  • (baseball) To drop down and skid into a base.
  • Jones slid into second.
  • To lose one’s balance on a slippery surface.
  • He slid while going around the corner.
  • To pass or put imperceptibly; to slip.
  • to slide in a word to vary the sense of a question
  • (obsolete) To pass inadvertently.
  • * Bible, Eccles. xxviii. 26
  • Beware thou slide not by it.
  • To pass along smoothly or unobservedly; to move gently onward without friction or hindrance.
  • A ship or boat slides through the water.
  • * (rfdate), Dryden:
  • Ages shall slide away without perceiving.
  • * (rfdate), Alexander Pope:
  • Parts answering parts shall slide into a whole.
  • (music) To pass from one note to another with no perceptible cessation of sound.
  • To pass out of one's thought as not being of any consequence.
  • * (rfdate), Chaucer:
  • With good hope let he sorrow slide .
  • * (rfdate), Philip Sidney:
  • With a calm carelessness letting everything slide .

    Derived terms

    * let slide

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • 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.
  • A surface of ice, snow, butter, etc. on which someone can slide for amusement or as a practical joke.
  • (Charles Dickens)
  • The falling of large amounts of rubble, earth and stones down the slope of a hill or mountain; avalanche.
  • The slide closed the highway.
  • 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.
  • A mechanism consisting of a part which slides on or against a guide.
  • The act of sliding; smooth, even passage or progress.
  • a slide on the ice
  • * Francis Bacon
  • A better slide into their business.
  • *
  • A lever that can be moved in two directions.
  • A valve that works by sliding, such as in a trombone.
  • A transparent plate bearing an image to be projected to a screen.
  • (baseball) The act of dropping down and skidding into a base
  • (sciences) A flat, rectangular piece of glass on which a prepared sample may be viewed through a microscope.
  • (music, guitar) A hand-held device made of smooth, hard material, used in the practice of slide guitar.
  • A lively dance from County Kerry, in 12/8 time.
  • (geology) A small dislocation in beds of rock along a line of fissure.
  • (Dana)
  • (music) A grace consisting of two or more small notes moving by conjoint degrees, and leading to a principal note either above or below.
  • (phonetics) A sound which, by a gradual change in the position of the vocal organs, passes imperceptibly into another sound.
  • A clasp or brooch for a belt, etc.
  • Synonyms

    * (item of play equipment) slippery dip * (inclined plane on which heavy bodies slide by the force of gravity) chute * (mechanism of a part which slides on or against a guide) runner

    Derived terms

    * landslide * mudslide * water slide * hairslide