slime
Americannoun
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thin, glutinous mud.
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any ropy or viscous liquid matter, especially of a foul kind.
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a viscous secretion of animal or vegetable origin.
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Also called slimeball. Slang. a repulsive or despicable person.
verb (used with object)
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to cover or smear with or as if with slime.
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to remove slime from, as fish for canning.
noun
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soft thin runny mud or filth
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any moist viscous fluid, esp when noxious or unpleasant
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a mucous substance produced by various organisms, such as fish, slugs, and fungi
verb
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to cover with slime
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to remove slime from (fish) before canning
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A slippery or sticky mucous substance secreted by certain animals, such as slugs or snails.
Usage
What else does slime mean? What’s up, slime? Slime is slang for a (usually male) "friend," often used as a term of address, like dude or bro.
Etymology
Origin of slime
before 1000; Middle English slyme, Old English slīm; cognate with Dutch slijm, German Schleim, Old Norse slīm
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Life first emerged on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago -- but was little more than a layer of slime for most of our planet's history.
From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026
“Like slime, sludge, and muck, slop has the wet sound of something you don’t want to touch,” the editors continued.
From Salon • Jan. 13, 2026
"The key innovation in the biosynthesis of tagatose was in finding the slime mold Gal1P enzyme and splicing it into our production bacteria," said Nair.
From Science Daily • Jan. 13, 2026
“It’s going to make these pink slime sites even harder for people to know that what they’re reading is not from a human source and not really local investigative journalism.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2026
If there’s goo or slime or like stringy eye snot or maybe some blood.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.