let slide

verb (used without object), slid [slid] /slɪd/, slid or slid·den [slid-n] /ˈslɪd n/, slid·ing.

1. to move along in continuous contact with a smooth or slippery surface: to slide down a snow-covered hill.
2. to slip or skid.
3. to glide or pass smoothly.
4. to slip easily, quietly, or unobtrusively on or as if on a track, channel, or guide rail (usually followed by in, out, away, etc.).
5. to pass or fall gradually into a specified state, character, practice, etc.
6. to decline or decrease: Interest rates are beginning to slide.
7. Baseball. (of a base runner) to cast oneself, usually feet first, forward along the ground in the direction of the base being approached, to present less of a target for a baseman attempting to make a tag.

verb (used with object), slid [slid] /slɪd/, slid or slid·den [slid-n] /ˈslɪd n/, slid·ing.

8. to cause to slide, slip, or coast, as over a surface or with a smooth, gliding motion.
9. to hand, pass along, or slip (something) easily or quietly (usually followed by in, into, etc.): to slide a note into someone’s hand.

noun

10. an act or instance of sliding.
11. a smooth surface for sliding on, especially a type of chute in a playground.
12. an object intended to slide.
13. Geology.
    1. a landslide or the like.
    2. the mass of matter sliding down.
14. a single transparency, object, or image for projection in a projector, as a lantern slide.
15. Photography. a small positive color transparency mounted for projection on a screen or magnification through a viewer.
16. a usually rectangular plate of glass on which objects are placed for microscopic examination.
17. Furniture. a shelf sliding into the body of a piece when not in use.
18. Music.
    1. an embellishment consisting of an upward or downward series of three or more tones, the last of which is the principal tone.
    2. a portamento.
    3. a U-shaped section of the tube of an instrument of the trumpet class, as the trombone, that can be pushed in or out to alter the length of the air column and change the pitch.
19. a vehicle mounted on runners, for conveying loads, as of grain or wood, especially over a level surface.
20. (of a machine or mechanism)
    1. a moving part working on a track, channel, or guide rails.
    2. the surface, track, channel, or guide rails on which the part moves.
21. any of various chutes used in logging, mining, or materials handling.
22. a flat or very low-heeled, backless shoe or slipper that can be slipped on and off the foot easily.

Idioms

23. let slide, to allow to deteriorate, pursue a natural course, etc., without intervention on one’s part: to let things slide.

verb slides, sliding, slid (slɪd), slid or slidden (ˈslɪdən)

1. to move or cause to move smoothly along a surface in continual contact with itdoors that slide open; children sliding on the ice
2. (intr) to lose grip or balancehe slid on his back
3. (intr; usually foll by into, out of, away from, etc) to pass or move gradually and unobtrusivelyshe slid into the room
4. (intr usually foll by into) to go (into a specified condition) by degrees, unnoticeably, etche slid into loose living
5. (foll by in, into, etc) to move (an object) unobtrusively or (of an object) to move in this wayhe slid the gun into his pocket
6. (intr) music to execute a portamento
7. let slide to allow to follow a natural course, esp one leading to deteriorationto let things slide

noun

8. the act or an instance of sliding
9. a smooth surface, as of ice or mud, for sliding on
10. a construction incorporating an inclined smooth slope for sliding down in playgrounds, etc
11. rowing a sliding seat in a boat or its runners
12. a thin glass plate on which specimens are mounted for microscopic study
13. Also called: transparency a positive photograph on a transparent base, mounted in a cardboard or plastic frame or between glass plates, that can be viewed by means of a slide projector
14. Also called: hair slide mainly British an ornamental clip to hold hair in placeUS and Canadian name: barrette
15. machinery
    1. a sliding part or member
    2. the track, guide, or channel on or in which such a part slides
16. music
    1. the sliding curved tube of a trombone that is moved in or out to allow the production of different harmonic series and a wider range of notes
    2. a portamento
17. music
    1. a metal or glass tube placed over a finger held against the frets of a guitar to produce a portamento
    2. the style of guitar playing using a slideSee also bottleneck (def. 3)
18. geology
    1. the rapid downward movement of a large mass of earth, rocks, etc, caused by erosion, faulting, etc
    2. the mass of material involved in this descentSee also landslide

v.Old English slidan (intransitive, past tense slad, past participle sliden) “to glide, slip, fall, fall down;” figuratively “fail, lapse morally, err; be transitory or unstable,” from Proto-Germanic *slidan “to slip, slide” (cf. Old High German slito, German Schlitten “sleigh, sled”), from PIE root *sleidh- “to slide, slip” (cf. Lithuanian slystu “to glide, slide,” Old Church Slavonic sledu “track,” Greek olisthos “slipperiness,” olisthanein “to slip,” Middle Irish sloet “slide”). Meaning “slip, lose one’s footing” is from early 13c. Transitive sense from 1530s. Phrase let (something) slide “let it take its own course” is in Chaucer (late 14c.). Sliding scale in reference to payments, etc., is from 1842. n.1560s, from slide (v.). As a smooth inclined surface down which something can be slid, from 1680s; the playground slide is from 1890. Meaning “collapse of a hillside, landslide” is from 1660s. As a working part of a musical instrument from 1800 (e.g. slide-trombone, 1891). Meaning “rapid downturn” is from 1884. Meaning “picture prepared for use with a projector” is from 1819 (in reference to magic lanterns). Baseball sense is from 1886. Slide-guitar is from 1968. n.

1. A small glass plate for mounting specimens to be examined under a microscope.

1. A mass movement of earth, rocks, snow, or ice down a slope. Slides can be caused by an accumulation of new matter or of moisture in the overlying material, or by erosion within or below the material. They are often triggered by an earthquake or other disturbance such as an explosion.
2. The mass of material resulting from such a process.

see let ride; let slip. see let ride (slide); let slip (slide).