slither

verb

slith·​er ˈsli-t͟hər 

slithered; slithering; slithers

intransitive verb

1

: to slide on or as if on a loose gravelly surface

2

: to slip or slide like a snake

transitive verb

: to cause to slide

Synonyms

• belly
• crawl
• creep
• grovel
• slide
• snake
• worm
• wriggle

Examples of slither in a Sentence

The snake slithered through the garden.

To get under the porch, I lay on my stomach and slithered like a snake.

She slithered quietly into the room.

He slithered his hand around her waist.

Recent Examples on the Web

But Brunson slithered back with venom: 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting in a decisive victory. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 13 May 2025

Built for the long game, these serpents slithered their way from the Cretaceous right through to the Cenozoic — a stretch of over 80 million years. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025

Perhaps the most important message from the roughly 4,000 different snakes slithering around the planet is that diversity is not only good, but necessary for survival. —Stephen S. Hall, Time, 21 Apr. 2025

Waterfowl glided near us, a water snake slithered by. —Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English slideren, from Old English slidrian, frequentative of slīdan to slide

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Rhymes for slither

• cither
• dither
• hither
• ither
• thither
• whither
• zither

Kids Definition

slither

verb

slith·​er ˈslit͟h-ər 

1

: to slide or cause to slide on or as if on a loose gravelly surface

2

: to slip or slide like a snake