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. Compare forward slash ( def ), backslash ( def ).
   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 ( def ).

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 calleddiagonalforward slashseparatrixshilling marksolidusstrokevirgule 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 Words From

• un·slashed 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

They worried companies would pass on the extra labor costs to customers through higher product prices, and would try to save money by laying off staff, slashing employee hours and replacing workers with automation.

From Los Angeles Times

These include lowering energy costs through more fossil fuel production and appointing the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, to slash government spending.

From Los Angeles Times

A week after the election, news broke that Musk has been chosen by Trump to co-lead an ill-defined “Department of Government Efficiency” with an evident mission to slash the public sector.

From Salon

But Ms Gupta is among current and prospective international students who have been swept up in a panic caused by the Australian government’s plan to slash foreign student numbers.

From BBC

The department was announced by Trump as a cost-cutting bureau focused on slashing "wasteful expenditures," with few details about how his administration intends to make the department an official government body.

From Salon

Related Words

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