slash
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to cut with a violent sweeping stroke or by striking violently and at random, as with a knife or sword.
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to lash; whip.
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to cut, reduce, or alter.
The editors slashed the story to half its length.
- Synonyms:
- abbreviate, abridge
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to make slits in (a garment) to show an underlying fabric.
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to criticize, censure, or attack in a savage or cutting manner.
verb (used without object)
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to lay about one with sharp, sweeping strokes; make one's way by cutting.
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to make a sweeping, cutting stroke.
noun
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a sweeping stroke, as with a knife, sword, or pen.
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a cut, wound, or mark made with such a stroke.
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a curtailment, reduction, or alteration.
a drastic slash of prices.
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a decorative slit in a garment showing an underlying fabric.
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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.
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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)
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(in forest land)
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an open area strewn with debris of trees from felling or from wind or fire.
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the debris itself.
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Slang. slash fiction.
noun
verb
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to cut or lay about (a person or thing) with sharp sweeping strokes, as with a sword, knife, etc
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to lash with a whip
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to make large gashes in
to slash tyres
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to reduce (prices, etc) drastically
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to criticize harshly
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to slit (the outer fabric of a garment) so that the lining material is revealed
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to clear (scrub or undergrowth) by cutting
noun
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a sharp, sweeping stroke, as with a sword or whip
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a cut or rent made by such a stroke
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a decorative slit in a garment revealing the lining material
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littered wood chips and broken branches that remain after trees have been cut down
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an area so littered
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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
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slang the act of urinating (esp in the phrase have a slash )
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a genre of erotic fiction written by women, to appeal to women
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slashsimple
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slashessimple
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have slashedperfect
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has slashedperfect
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am slashingprogressive
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are slashingprogressive
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is slashingprogressive
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have been slashingperfect progressive
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has been slashingperfect progressive
Past
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slashedsimple
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had slashedperfect
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was slashingprogressive
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were slashingprogressive
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had been slashingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
To quickly and violently cut something is to slash it. Sword fighters in a play might just clank their swords together, though they seem to slash each other. After the play is over, the snack stand might slash the price of popcorn. A vandal might slash the tires on people's cars, and a baker will sometimes slash the top of a loaf of bread. Both use a sharp knife, and make sweeping motions as they cut, but the similarities end there. Figuratively, slash can mean "reduce," so a sale at your grocery store might be announced with a sign reading "We slash prices!" This figurative meaning dates from the turn of the 20th century.
Vocabulary lists containing slash
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Musk left the Trump administration more than a year ago and his Doge project, which aimed to slash the size of the US federal government, has since been wound down.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Leon County, which includes Tallahassee, has cast a closer eye on its coffers under a new measure to slash property taxes in the state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
It’s also easy to imagine video game companies writ large choosing to slash budgets by removing their own disc drives as hardware becomes far more expensive to produce, thanks to the A.I.-induced memory-processor shortage.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Among them will be Volkswagen, after reports last week said Europe's biggest carmaker was planning to slash up to 100,000 jobs -- double the number previously announced -- and to close four plants in Germany.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
With a sudden slash of his hand, he knocked both the sharpener and the cup of pencils from his desk.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
That segment of the show largely stripped out the guitars to focus on clubby techno and nasty slashes of synth noise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026
Nomura downgrades its ratings on HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to reduce from neutral, and slashes target price by 33% to 350,000 won.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
AeroVironment slumps after the drone maker misses analysts’ forecasts for the third quarter and slashes guidance.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
Ford Motor on Monday said it would take a $19.5 billion charge as it refocuses on hybrids, slashes its electric-vehicle investments and discontinues the electric F-150 pickup truck.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025
He was of the purest white, with a black star on his forehead and black slashes under big eyes.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Pyziur also noted that oil prices have been suppressed in part because China slashed its own imports of oil.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Meta and Oracle slashed over 10% of their workforces in favor of implementing AI into its operations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Deutsche Bank slashed its forecast of full-year 2026 Foundayo sales to $1.3 billion from around $3 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
The animal health company slashed its full-year profit and revenue guidance at the start of last month.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
On the rocks of the rapids below it searchers discovered the bodies of five more, and also a long black cloak, slashed and tattered.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
By slashing prices on some core items, Primark is likely hoping to woo shoppers with low-cost staples, in the same way that supermarkets attract customers with cheap milk and bananas, Berg says.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
It raised $150 million after slashing its target due to tepid demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Unified’s already adopted plan calls for more than 6,000 job reductions, slashing up to $500 million per year in extra services for schools with the greatest needs and seven unpaid furlough days for each worker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
The country is in the grips of a humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by the slashing of foreign assistance and the need to integrate millions of Afghans pushed back from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
He calls me in his office every once in a while, scans the month’s articles with a red pencil, marking and slashing and grunting.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
