(as) slick as a whistle
1. adjective Quick, smooth, skillful, or easy, as in manner or movement. My new scooter is slick as a whistle in traffic. Andrea had ice skating lessons as a kid? Well, that makes sense—she is just slick as a whistle on the ice, while I'm falling all over myself! Wow, your car is as slick as a whistle now that you put that new engine in.
2. adverb In a quick, smooth, easy manner; quickly, skillfully, and neatly. Once she got into a rhythm, she had that wall built slick as a whistle. You should hear him on the phone, convincing clients as slick as a whistle to invest huge sums of money. Good job, kids. You really got the playroom cleaned up slick as a whistle.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*slick as a whistle
quickly and cleanly; quickly and skillfully. (*Also: as ~.) Tom took a broom and a mop and cleaned the place up as slick as a whistle. slick as a whistle, Sally pulled off the bandage.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
slick as a whistle
Very-smooth and neat; also, smoothly, quickly, easily. For example, That salesman is as slick as a whistle, or The fence post went in place slick as a whistle. The allusion in this simile, first recorded in 1830, is not totally clear, but presumably it refers either to the ease of producing a whistle or to its clear tone.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.