slang A slide rule, a mechanical computational device consisting of two scaled rules that slide along grooves in one, formerly used to complete complex mathematical computations. Primarily heard in US. Our teacher insisted on us using slipsticks to calculate everything, even though he knows full well we'll never use one in the real world.
slipstick
n. a slide rule. (Very common a few decades ago, a slide rule is a computing device that allowed the user to compute by positioning moveable scales printed on various sliding parts of the rule.) Who carries a slipstick these days?