Just to clarify, popular dictionaries are descriptive, not prescriptive. They report the current popular -- as opposed to 'proper' -- usage of words.I have no idea what slippery slope you are referring to. I simply gave the facts about what the word means in English. A dictionary is a perfectly authoritative source for what words mean. My objection to you is that you are trying to redefine the word, and you simply don't have the authority to do that.
Many of the discussions here on RF are of a technical nature and, as such, would benefit from the specific, agreed-upon definitions of technicians or practitioners involved in the fields under discussion. These "technical" terms used often differ from their meanings in common parlance.