▪ I. slite, n. Now E. Angl. dial.
(slaɪt)
Also 9 slight, sleight.
[f. slite v., or ad. Du. slijt (cf. G. schleiss), f. slijten (see next).]
Impairment through use; wear and tear.
| 1614 T. Gentleman Way to win Wealth 36 But the yearely slite and weare of her tackell and war-ropes and nets will cost some eighty pounds. 1879 Norfolk Archaeol. VIII. 173, I have a wonderful sleight for shoes with my children. 1895 E. Angl. Gloss. 200, Slite, wear and tear. |
▪ II. slite, v. Now rare or Obs.
Also 5 slytyn, 5, 9 slyte. pa. tense 6, 8–9 Sc. slate, slait. pa. pple. 5 slytyn.
[Representing either OE. sl{iacu}tan (slát, etc.) or ON. sl{iacu}ta (Icel. sl{iacu}ta, Norw. and Sw. slita, Da. slide), corresponding to OFris. slîta (WFris. slite), MDu. slīten (Du. slijten), OS. slîtan (MLG. and LG. slîten), OHG. slîzan (G. schleissen).
Common in OE., but rare in the later language; the mod. dial. pa. pple. slitten is now associated with slit v.]
1. trans. To slit or split; to cut or rip up.
| c 1440 Jacob's Well 226 Þe o feend slyteth wyth a swerd my body, & begynneth at myn heued dounwarde. 1536 Bellenden Chron. Scot. Proh. (1541) A vij, Duke Hanniball..Brak doun the wallis, and the montanis slait. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., To Slite, Slyte, to rip up any thing that is sewed. 1841 in R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes Scot. (1870) 156, I sewed a pair o' sheets, and I slate them. |
2. To impair by wear; to wear out. Hence ˈsliting vbl. n. (Cf. slite n.)
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 459/2 Slytyn, or weryn, attero, vetero. Ibid., Slytynge, veteracio, consumpcio. |
3. Sc. To whet or sharpen.
| 17.. Gil Morrice xviii. in Percy Reliques iii. i, Now he has drawn his trusty brand, And slaited [read slait it] on the strae. a 1800 in Child Ballads IV. 491 Johnny drew forth his good braid glaive, And slate it on the plain. 1825 Jamieson Suppl. s.v. Slait, Slite is used in this sense [sc. to whet] in Lanarks[hire] and also in Loth[ian]. |
▪ III. slite
obs. form of sleet n.