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chute

1
[ shoot ]
/ ʃut /
||
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noun

an inclined channel, as a trough, tube, or shaft, for conveying water, grain, coal, etc., to a lower level.
a waterfall or steep descent, as in a river.
a water slide, as at an amusement park.
a steep slope, as for tobogganing.

verb (used with object), chut·ed, chut·ing.

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.

verb (used without object), chut·ed, chut·ing.

to descend by or as if by means of a chute.

RELATED WORDS

gutter, incline, runway, course, slide, rapid, trough, fall, channel

Nearby words

  1. churr,
  2. churrasco,
  3. churrigueresque,
  4. churro,
  5. chuse,
  6. chute the chute,
  7. chute-the-chute,
  8. chutist,
  9. chutney,
  10. chutzpa

Idioms

    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.

Origin of chute

1
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

chute

2
[ shoot ]
/ ʃut /

noun

a parachute.

verb (used without object), chut·ed, chut·ing.

to descend from the air by or as if by a parachute.

verb (used with object), chut·ed, chut·ing.

to drop from an aircraft by means of a parachute: Supplies were chuted to the snowbound mountain climbers.

Origin of chute

2
An Americanism dating back to 1915–20; by shortening
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for chute

British Dictionary definitions for chute

chute

1
/ (ʃuːt) /

noun

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

Word Origin for chute

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

noun, verb

informal short for parachute
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
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper