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chute1

[shoot]
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noun
  1. an inclined channel, as a trough, tube, or shaft, for conveying water, grain, coal, etc., to a lower level.
  2. a waterfall or steep descent, as in a river.
  3. a water slide, as at an amusement park.
  4. a steep slope, as for tobogganing.
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verb (used with object), chut·ed, chut·ing.
  1. to move or deposit, by or as if by means of a chute: The dock had facilities for chuting grain directly into the hold of a vessel.
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verb (used without object), chut·ed, chut·ing.
  1. to descend by or as if by means of a chute.
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Idioms
  1. out of the chute, at the start; at the very beginning: The new business made mistakes right out of the chute and failed within a year.
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Origin of chute1

1715–25; < French, Middle French, representing Old French cheoite a fall, nominalized feminine past participle of cheoir to fall (< Vulgar Latin *cadēre, for Latin cadere; cf. cadence, case1), with vowel of Middle French chue, Old French cheue, a variant past participle; some senses influenced by shoot1

chute2

[shoot]
noun
  1. a parachute.
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verb (used without object), chut·ed, chut·ing.
  1. to descend from the air by or as if by a parachute.
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verb (used with object), chut·ed, chut·ing.
  1. to drop from an aircraft by means of a parachute: Supplies were chuted to the snowbound mountain climbers.
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Origin of chute2

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20; by shortening
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for chute

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Even if you're already dead, pull the ripcord ring of your chute!

  • It stops, in its turn, before a chute of smooth granite in the form of a bowl.

  • I'll get ya the plane and chute if y'll put up a deposit to cover the cost.

    Disowned

    Victor Endersby

  • As the door swung open, he threw the 'chute out toward the ground.

    The Great Drought

    Sterner St. Paul Meek

  • This chute, Fuller had said, led to the outside at the back of the reduction plant.

    Vulcan's Workshop

    Harl Vincent

British Dictionary definitions for chute

chute1

noun
  1. an inclined channel or vertical passage down which water, parcels, coal, etc, may be dropped
  2. a steep slope, used as a slide as for toboggans
  3. a slide into a swimming pool
  4. a narrow passageway through which animals file for branding, spraying, etc
  5. a rapid or waterfall
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Word Origin

C19: from Old French cheoite, feminine past participle of cheoir to fall, from Latin cadere; in some senses, a variant spelling of shoot

chute2

noun, verb
  1. informal short for parachute
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Derived Formschutist, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chute

n.1

1725, American English, "fall of water" (earlier shoot, 1610s), from French chute "fall," from Old French cheoite "a fall," fem. past participle of cheoir "to fall," from Latin cadere (see case (n.1)). Meaning "inclined tube, trough" is from 1804; that of "narrow passage for cattle, etc." first recorded 1881. In North America, absorbing some senses of similar-sounding shoot (n.1).

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n.2

short for parachute (n.), attested from 1920.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper