slickem

From slick +‎ 'em.

slickem (countable and uncountable, plural slickems)

1. Hair oil.
   • 1927, Copy ...1927: Stories, Plays, Poems, and Essays, page 82:

     Turkington's bright mop of red hair had plainly never known slickem.

   • 1939, Careless Hussy, page 249:

     Well, old-timer, you begin to look to me like a guy who's left waiting at the church. Frock coat, white carnation, slickem on your curly locks, everything on hand but a bride.

   • 2005, Michael Oriard, King Football: Sport and Spectacle in the Golden Age of Radio and Newsreels, Movies & Magazines, the Weekly & the Daily Press, →ISBN:

     ...his black hair plastered down on both sides with slickem, and his natty siders halfway down his cheeks in the most approved shiek style.

2. A very fine waste material produced by hydraulic mining which tends to contaminate waterways.
   • 1879, Frederic Eichelberger Shearer, The Pacific Tourist:

     Now one of the most engrossing questions in the politics of the State arises from the filling of the rivers and the destruction of the agricultural lands by the debris from these hydraulic mines. A dam on the Feather River, near Marysville, was authorized by the Legislature, and after the expenditure of half a million dollars its success is questioned, and "slickem" continues to muddy at least the political waters.

   • 1883, Engineering and Mining Journal - Volume 35, page 234:

     The miners generally expect to build their own dams. These dams will restrain the coarser material, but not the finest slickem.

   • 1910, Denver Municipal Facts - Volume 2, page 14:

     While Such surfaces—known among mine Workers - as “slickem-slides”—are by no means uncommon, the Specimens here illustrated are perhaps unique in perfection and interest.

3. A superlubricant packet or spray that can be used to reduce traction on surfaces or as a lubricant.
   • 1942, Typographical Journal - Volume 101, page 769:

     Whitey Hermanson's Leatherneck son thought that his dad's car could get along on iron rations, or whatever Marines carry to their landing with situations in hand, forgot to put some slickem in the case for the turn-arounds, and that knocked the babbit outa the gadgets.

   • 1956, Air Facts: The Magazine of Safe Flying - Volume 19, page 47:

     The ice I haven't really met yet, but it looks like that could be overcome with some slickem on the airplane and a careful check with . . .

   • 1996, Jane's Defence Contracts: A Jane's Defence Weekly Publication:

     If a manufacturer makes a gun, he knows that it may kill, and the government that buys it knows it, too. If the government buys a stun gun, or a 'slickem' to cause vehicles to skid, who is to blame if fatalities result?

   • 2000 January, Paul S Patterson Jr, “Should DOD Integrate Nonlethal and Lethal Weapons Program”, in Defense Technical Information Center:

     In the case of United Shield, these items were acquired through civilian sources and not through a DOD program because none existed. Other examples include a fluid called "slickem" that causes a loss of traction.

4. A long-chain polymer that is injected into oil pipelines to reduce turbulent flow.
   • 1994, Dana Stabenow, A Cold-Blooded Business, →ISBN, page 50:

     “We were wondering about this slickem stuff,” the tall one said. “Oh, sure, slickem,” Dale said. “It's kind of neat stuff, actually. It's a long-chain polymer, kind of a gooey plastic. It's injected into the line at Pump One and”—she looked at Toni—”Pump Two? Anyway, it kind of gums up the oil, not much, just enough to slow the turbulent flow so it doesn't ball up inside the line, and instead uses its energy to push itself down the pipeline to Valdez..."

   • 2000, Bruce Raphael, King Energy: The Rise and Fall of an Industrial Empire Gone Awry, →ISBN:

     Later, through addition of a chemical substance called “slickem”, the flow rate was increased, to the point where by 1980 Alaskan oil made a genuine contribution to the world's crude supplies.

   • 2012, Daniel Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, →ISBN:

     The initial capacity of the Alaskan pipeline was 1.7 million barrels per day. With the addition of a chemical nicknamed “slickem,” which reduced drag within the pipeline and thus improved the ease of flow, the pipeline's capacity was boosted to 2.1 million barrels per day.

5. A piece of wood wrapped in abrasive cloth, used for sharpening blades.
   • 1959, School Activities - Volumes 31-32, page 96:

     A special introductory section describes the simple tools needed for carving and how to make them; how to prepare a "slickem-sharp" and illustrates the basic techniques of whittling.

   • 1974, Sunset Books, Woodcarving, →ISBN, page 25:

     Seldom used by the home craftsman or carver are two sharpening devices often used by whittlers and barbers: the "slickem-sharp" and the strop.

   • 1988, Georgene Lockwood, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Crafts With Kids, →ISBN, page 112:

     Even a new knife will need to be sharpened, since it has a chisel edge. Finish the job by stroking the blade up and down on what's known as a slickem stick, which is a piece of planed wood with abrasive cloth attached to it, or a leather strap known as a strop.

From the pronunciation of the acronym SLCM.

slickem (plural slickems)

1. An SLCM (sea-launched cruise missile).
   • 1984, Christopher Campbell, Nuclear Weapons Fact Book, page 92:

     Meanwhile the original 'slickem' concept turns virtually any US warship into a strategic launch platform, but particularly nuclear-powered attack submarines whose primary role was previously to act as anti-submarine warfare platforms themselves.

   • 1988, U.S. News & World Report - Volume 105, page 38:

     The U.S., for example, will not allow Soviet inspectors aboard its submarines to count sea-launched cruise missiles — "slickems" to the trade — and proposes taking these numbers on faith. Surely you jest, the Soviets respond. They have a point, a U.S. official concedes: "I wonder how happy we would be about leaving slickems unverified when the Soviets mount mount their own program."

   • 1988, Christopher Lamb -, How to Think About Arms Control, Disarmament, and Defense:

     On the other hand there is also much agreement that advances in weapons technology have enormously complicated effective monitoring of arms limitation agreements. Sea-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs, or "slickems") are an example.

• Melicks, Mickels, Mickles, melicks, mickles