slash

¹

[slash]

verb (used with object)

1. to cut with a violent sweeping stroke or by striking violently and at random, as with a knife or sword.

2. to lash; whip.

3. to cut, reduce, or alter.

   The editors slashed the story to half its length.

   Synonyms: abbreviate, abridge

4. to make slits in (a garment) to show an underlying fabric.

5. to criticize, censure, or attack in a savage or cutting manner.

verb (used without object)

1. to lay about one with sharp, sweeping strokes; make one's way by cutting.

2. to make a sweeping, cutting stroke.

noun

1. a sweeping stroke, as with a knife, sword, or pen.

2. a cut, wound, or mark made with such a stroke.

3. a curtailment, reduction, or alteration.

   a drastic slash of prices.

4. a decorative slit in a garment showing an underlying fabric.

5. 1. a short oblique stroke (/) between two words indicating that whichever is appropriate may be chosen to complete the sense of the text in which they occur; a virgule.

      you and/or your dependents.

   2. a dividing line, as in dates, fractions, a run-in passage of poetry to show verse division, etc.; a virgule.

      She got 3/4 of the answers correct.

      “Sweetest love, I do not go/For weariness of thee.” (John Donne)

6. (in forest land)

   1. an open area strewn with debris of trees from felling or from wind or fire.

   2. the debris itself.

7. Slang.,  slash fiction.

slash

²

[slash]

noun

1. Often slashes. a tract of wet or swampy ground overgrown with bushes or trees.

slash

/ slæʃ /

verb

1. to cut or lay about (a person or thing) with sharp sweeping strokes, as with a sword, knife, etc

2. to lash with a whip

3. to make large gashes in

   to slash tyres

4. to reduce (prices, etc) drastically

5. to criticize harshly

6. to slit (the outer fabric of a garment) so that the lining material is revealed

7. to clear (scrub or undergrowth) by cutting

noun

1. a sharp, sweeping stroke, as with a sword or whip

2. a cut or rent made by such a stroke

3. a decorative slit in a garment revealing the lining material

4. 1. littered wood chips and broken branches that remain after trees have been cut down

   2. an area so littered

5. Also called: diagonal.  forward slash.  separatrix.  shilling mark.  solidus.  stroke.  virgule. a short oblique stroke used in text to separate items of information, such as days, months, and years in dates ( 18/7/80 ), alternative words ( and/or ), numerator from denominator in fractions ( 55/103 ), etc

6. slang,  the act of urinating (esp in the phrase have a slash )

7. a genre of erotic fiction written by women, to appeal to women

Other Word Forms

• unslashed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slash¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English slaschen, perhaps from Old French esclachier “to break”

Origin of slash²

An Americanism dating back to 1645–55; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of slash¹

C14 slaschen, perhaps from Old French esclachier to break

Example Sentences

The Reform UK manifesto published ahead of last year's general election made commitments to slash income tax in particular, as well as large spending pledges on defence.

From BBC

And the Texas Oil and Gas Association announced in early August that drillers in the Permian Basin “slashed methane emission intensity by more than half in just two years.”

From Salon

As businesses look at ways to slash costs, tech companies have promoted AI as a way to do more with fewer people.

From Los Angeles Times

Organizers have put together the nationwide protest “Workers over Billionaires,” calling it a “refusal to let billionaires slash care, scapegoat immigrants, raid public dollars, and divide working people for profit.”

From Los Angeles Times

Republicans in Congress attempted to design their “big beautiful” budget bill to insulate themselves from the political consequences of slashing benefits for millions of Americans while cutting taxes for the rich.

From Salon

Related Words

• curtail 
• cut 
• cut back 
• cut down 
• drop 
• hack 
• lower 
• pare 
• shave 
• shorten