a.
Be ye sly as serpents, and simple as doves. Wyclif (Matt. x. 16). [ 1913 Webster ]
Whom graver age
And long experience hath made wise and sly. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]
For my sly wiles and subtle craftiness,
The litle of the kingdom I possess. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]
Envy works in a sly and imperceptible manner. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]
By the sly,
On the sly
Sly goose (Zool.),
adv. Slyly. [ Obs. or Poetic ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. A humerous appellation for a sly, cunning, or waggish person. [ 1913 Webster ]
Slyboots was cursedly cunning to hide 'em. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. In a sly manner; shrewdly; craftily. [ 1913 Webster ]
Honestly and slyly he it spent. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. The quality or state of being sly. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ Cf. D. sluipen to sneak. ] (Arch.) A narrow passage between two buildings, as between the transept and chapter house of a monastery. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]