sleeper stock – see under STOCK¹

sleeping beautyn [C] a company, especially one with attractive features such as a large amount of cash, that other companies would like to buy, but that has not yet received any offers

sleeping partner – see under PARTNER

slice/slaɪs/n [C] a part or share of something + of: Sales reps will get a slice of any catalogue sales to customers in their area.slick /slk/ adj1 a slick person uses clever talk to persuade people to do something, especially in a way that does not seem honest or sincere: He is uncomfortable in the role of slick salesman. | a slick investment banker
2 cleverly made and attractive, but often not containing any important or interesting ideas: The agency has a reputation for producing work that is slick and classy. | slick advertising brochures

slide /slaɪd/  past tense and past participle slid v [I] to gradually become lower or less: Some dealers continued to buy silver as the price slid.|The new model didn’t stop GM’s share of the U. S. car market from sliding. – sliden [C] + in: There has been a recent slide in crude oil production. | a series of price slides.

slide into sth phr v [T] to gradually start to experience an unpleasant or difficult situation: The Australian economy was sliding into recession. | Could he prevent the company from sliding into bankruptcy?

sliding scale – see under SCALE

slim¹ /slɪm/ v past simple and past participle slimmed present participle slimming [I, T] also slim down to reduce the size or number of something, or to become smaller in size or number: Mitsui Taiyo Kobe slimmed its total assets by 3.2%. | Many large insurers are slimming down (= employing fewer people). – slimmingn [U] Despite success in holding down overall costs, further slimming will be needed.

slim²adj comparative slimmer superlative slimmest1 very small in size or amount: The slim increase in revenues reflected the slowing economy. | Will the Democrats hold on to their slim majority?
2very little chance of something happening:Chances are slim that such bosses will make as much money as they once earned. | There are slim hopes of a compromise.

slip¹ /slɪp/  v past tense and past participle slipped present participle slipping [I] to become worse or less or fall to a lower amount, standard etc than before: There are fears that consumer confidence may be slipping. | Earnings per share slipped 2% to 9.9 pence.
slip into sth phr v [T] to gradually start to experience an unpleasant or difficult situation: The economy may be slipping into a recession. | Filofax PLC slipped into the red made a loss for the first time.
slip upphr v [I] to make a mistake: Where you slipped up was selling to the first bidder: – see also SLIP-UP

slip² n1 [singular] an occasion when something becomes worse or becomes less or lower + in: The slip in demand is seen in other markets besides the US.
2 [C] a small narrow piece of paper: Always keep your credit card slips. | Have you received a confirmation slip?

compliments slip [C] a small piece of paper with a person’s or company’s name and address on it, sent with goods, documents, or other materials instead of a letter: His photographs finally come back from The Sunday Times Magazine with a printed compliments slip and no explanation.

pink slip [C] AmE a piece of paper given to a worker, officially telling them that they no longer have a job: About 700 employees will receive pink slips this week. with another 200 dismissals expected soon.

sales slip [C] AmE a small piece of paper that you are given in a shop as proof that you have paid for something; RECEIPT

slip•page /slɪpɪʤ/ n [U] 1 a reduction in a level of activity, amount etc: T’he central bank is prepared to ease interest rates further if the economy shows signs of slippage. | Last week’s slippage in bond prices followed a nearly 13-week rise.
2 when calculations are not exact because some figures can only he guessed: Opinion poll reliability is affected by slippage. Not all voters bother to respond, for example.
3 FINANCE when investments are bought at higher prices or sold at lower prices than those wanted: One way to minimize slippage is to avoid placing orders on the open or the close of a trading session because of volatility (= fast and frequent price changes).

slip-upn [C] a careless mistake that spoils a process or plan: Slip-ups by the company’s management resulted in the launch failure. – see also slip up under SLIP¹

slo•gan/sləʊgən ‖ sloʊ-/ [C] a short phrase that is easy to remember and is used by an advertiser, organization, or other group: We need an advertising slogan for the new campaign. | Weight Watchers’ new slogan was “Total indulgence. Zero guilt.”

slot  /slɒt ‖ slɑːt/ n [C] 1 a short period of time allowed for one particular event in a series of other, similar events: landing slots at Tokyo’s Narita airport | TV stations running repeats of Oprah’s daytime show in the late-night slot
2 AmE a particular job in an organization: The board elected a new director to fill one of the slots on Turner’s board. | 4,000 slots, mostly white-collar, could be eliminated from the company’s Missouri plant alone. – see also EXPANSION SLOT

slow¹ /sləʊ ‖sloʊ/ v [I,T] also slow down to become slower: Consumer borrowing has slowed noticeably since Jan. 1. | They’re delaying sales reports to the factory to slow down shipments of new cars.

slow²adj1 not happening, being done, or moving with much speed or not as quickly as it should: Prices are rising, but at a slower pace than before. | a period of slow economic growth | We expect a slow improvement in sales. | Designing a new car can be a slow process. – slowly adv: Disposable income grew slowly.
2be slow to do sthdisapproving to not do something immediately: The city has been slow to follow through on many of the budget cuts it promised.
3 if business or trade is slow, there are not many customers or not many things are sold: Manufacturers say that business remains slow. | Monday is usually the slowest day of the week.

slow-down /sləʊdɑʊn ‖sloʊ-/ n1 [C usually singular] when something gets slower + in: a slowdown in domestic demand for automobiles | There are signs of an economic slowdown.
2  [C] AmE a period of time when people deliberately work slowly in order to protest about something; GO-SLOW BrE: The unions already have a work slowdown under way.