Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Slender \Slen"der\, a. [Compar. {Slenderer}; superl.
   {Slenderest}.] [OE. slendre, sclendre, fr. OD. slinder thin,
   slender, perhaps through a French form; cf. OD. slinderen,
   slidderen, to creep; perh. akin to E. slide.]
   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.'' --Chaucer.

            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. (Phon.) Uttered with a thin tone; -- the opposite of
      broad; as, the slender vowels long e and i. --
      {Slen"der*ly}, adv. -- {Slen"der*ness}, n.