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While reading a book, I came across this sentence:

[...], finishing with a slither of lemon tart or apple cake.

Looking up the word slither, I didn't get any satisfying results.

On OALD I found the defintion of 'to slither', which means, to move forwards either in a smooth way (to slide) or uncontrolled (to glide).

In the given sentence this would only make sense, if it's about, how smooth this lemon tart goes down the gullet. But I don't think, that it is meant like this. Moreover, wouldn't it be 'a slithering lemon tart'?!

Thinking about the sentence, and what it could be, I'm assuming that it could mean 'a part of', but I don't find any proof.

So, which is the correct meaning of 'a slither of' and which words are best synonyms for it?

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Rather than stick my oar in on the extended debate under Matt's (IMHO totally correct and exhaustive) answer, I'll just say here that so far as I'm concerned, it's an eggcorn - probably used unwittingly by many, but deliberately by a few. I can't find a written instance of a slither of ripe camembert cheese, for example - but that would strike me as creative writing rather than ignorance. – FumbleFingers Jan 12 at 18:42
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2 Answers

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This is a misspelling of sliver

any small, narrow piece or portion

So a slither of lemon tart or apple cake really means a sliver of lemon tart or apple cake. It is implying a thin slice of the cake or pie.

Apparently this mistake has made it into common parlance, as attested by this entry from oxforddictionaries.com

Slither noun - a sliver

As we can see from the origin of slither

O.E. slidrian "to slide on a loose slope," a frequentative form of slidan "to slide" (see slide). Meaning "to walk in a sliding manner" is attested from 1848. In ref. to reptile motion, attested from 1839. Related: Slithered; slithering.

when compared to the origin of sliver

late 14c., from obsolete verb sliven "to split, cleave," from O.E. toslifan "to split, cleave," from P.Gmc. *slifanan.

They are not related. It isn't until the beginning of the 1900s that slither appears where sliver should, in writing.

"slither of" vs "sliver of" NGram

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@Kris That quote is from someone who was apparently kicked out of school because she spent all her time at nightclubs and never did her grammar homework: veronicahenry.co.uk/biog.html – onomatomaniak Jan 12 at 11:59
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See noun 2 a sliver: a slither of bacon – z7sg Ѫ Jan 12 at 12:04
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That’s not the OED; rather, this is the OED entry for the noun slither. Sense 4b is: ‘Something smooth and slippery; a smoothly sliding mass; = sliver n.1’. The first citation for sense 4b is: ‘1919 E. Pound Quia Pauper Amavi 40 — If she goes in a gleam of Cos, in a slither of dyed stuff, There is a volume in the matter.’ Another citation is: ‘1981 Daily Tel. 27 May 15/1 — Calvin Klein’s newest dress is a slither of silk shaped simply like an overgrown T-shirt.’ I do not think it is always a typo. – tchrist Jan 12 at 13:35
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@MattЭллен Sorry I typo’d typo into type. I can’t see anything in the OED’s slither that suggests it’s a typo for sliver. It gives a cogent historical use as a noun deriving from the verb to mean something smooth, slippery, and sliding. Sense 4a is ‘A slipping or sliding. Also transf. and fig.’ 1st cit is ‘1861 Trollope Tales of all Countries 67 — Then there was a great slither, and an exclamation, and the noise of a fall.’ It’s sense 4b (which I previously gave) that lists sliver as a synonym. I think the noun slither has its own legit history apart from a mere typo. See? – tchrist Jan 12 at 14:03
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@tchrist I cannot see the OED but surely it doesn't contradict the free online dictionary? Because sense 4b is not a synonym of sliver (a thin, narrow piece of something). – z7sg Ѫ Jan 12 at 15:37
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up vote 0 down vote

It's hard to tell without knowing the source, but while Matt is certainly correct that a "sliver" would be more conventional, and that it could be an eggcorn or mis-spelling -- it's also entirely possible that it is deliberate.

A poet or a creative writer will often use words that outside their expected context, to sneak meaning and emotion in.

A delicately made lemon tart filling will indeed slither down your throat, and to describe your dessert as a "slither of lemon tart" gives the reader that sense.

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