slash

¹ American  

[slash] / slæʃ /

verb (used with object)

• slashes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slashed,
  past participle,  past
• slashing
  present participle

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.

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verb (used without object)

• slashes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slashed,
  past participle,  past
• slashing
  present participle

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 American  

[slash] / slæʃ /

noun

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

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slash British  

/ 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

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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

Derived Forms

• unslashed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• slashing
  present
• slashed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• slash
  simple
• slashes
  simple
• have slashed
  perfect
• has slashed
  perfect
• am slashing
  progressive
• are slashing
  progressive
• is slashing
  progressive
• have been slashing
  perfect progressive
• has been slashing
  perfect progressive

Past

• slashed
  simple
• had slashed
  perfect
• was slashing
  progressive
• were slashing
  progressive
• had been slashing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will slash
  simple
• will have slashed
  perfect
• will be slashing
  progressive
• will have been slashing
  perfect progressive

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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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slash slashes slashed slashing

People who don’t want to slash prices are already delisting their homes in record numbers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

A major review of criminal courts by former appeal judge Sir Brian Leveson recommended more virtual hearings for defendants to slash wasted time bringing them to and from cells.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Amendment 3’s passage could add momentum to other states’ efforts to slash property taxes, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Another option, something Briffault admits is petty but has been done before, is to slash the salaries of people at the agency responsible for the unlawful behavior, or even folks who worked on it.

From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026

Archer recognized the downward slash of her arm.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

UBS slashes its target price 64% to A$109.00.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

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

AI slashes their coding costs while maintaining their revenue.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026

The roaring sound instantly fills my vision with brown streaks and slashes, and I look up to see the familiar markings of my father’s chopper.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass

Smith was on the injured list for 86 days this summer because of neck disk inflammation, returning for the final month when he slashed .290/.400/.548.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

If City's financial power had been slashed by the extra £830m the commission says they falsely added to their books, their transfer spend would surely have been massively reduced.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the United States has slashed the number of its generals and admirals by 20 percent, in a move he said is aimed at "accountability."

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

CarMax KMX 2.25%increase; green up pointing triangle has slashed 145 white-collar jobs, about 4% of its corporate staff, a move that comes as auto sellers face the pain of high prices and rising interest rates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

The numbers were like war paint on the white face of the clock, the hands like swords as they slashed across the pearly surface.

From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas

One of the companies, Entalpic, began life with the goal of slashing carbon-dioxide emissions by using AI for materials-science research.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Now it is looking to accompany its move upmarket by slashing costs.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Not all Big Tech companies are slashing their buybacks in favor of investing in AI.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

Two officers, Stefan Carutasu and Dominique Billew, responded and found Blanco standing near a parked car, repeatedly slashing at an area under the bumper.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The track bed left behind looked like an ugly black scar slashing through town.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

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Related Words

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

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