online medical dictionary | definition of slender

1. Small or narrow in proportion to the length or the height; not thick; slim; as, a slender stem or stalk of a plant. "A slender, choleric man." "She, as a veil down to the slender waist, Her unadorned golden tresses wore." (Milton)

2. Weak; feeble; not strong; slight; as, slender hope; a slender constitution. "Mighty hearts are held in slender chains." (Pope) "They have inferred much from slender premises." (J. H. Newman) "The slender utterance of the consonants." (J. Byrne)

3. Moderate; trivial; inconsiderable; slight; as, a man of slender intelligence. "A slender degree of patience will enable him to enjoy both the humor and the pathos." (Sir W. Scott)

4. Small; inadequate; meager; pitiful; as, slender means of support; a slender pittance. "Frequent begging makes slender alms." (Fuller)

5. Spare; abstemious; frugal; as, a slender diet. "The good Ostorius often deigned To grace my slender table with his presence." (Philips)

6. Uttered with a thin tone; the opposite of broad; as, the slender vowels long e and i. Slen"derly, Slen"derness.

Origin: OE. Slendre, sclendre, fr. OD. Slinder thin, slender, perhaps through a French form; cf. OD. Slinderen, slidderen, to creep; perh. Akin to E. Slide.

(01 Mar 1998)