chute

¹ American  

[shoot] / ʃut /

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.

5. a narrow corridor or enclosure for livestock that keeps the animals moving in single file or holds an animal in a forward-facing position until released to proceed into a designated area.

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verb (used with object)

chuted, chuting

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.

verb (used without object)

chuted, chuting

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

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.

chute ² American  

[shoot] / ʃut /

noun

1. a parachute.

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verb (used without object)

chuted, chuting

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

verb (used with object)

chuted, chuting

1. to drop from an aircraft by means of a parachute.

   Supplies were chuted to the snowbound mountain climbers.

chute ¹ British  

/ ʃuːt /

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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chute ² British  

/ ʃuːt /

noun

1. informal short for parachute

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Other Word Forms

• chutist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of chute¹

First recorded in 1715–25; from French, Middle French, representing Old French cheoite “a fall,” noun use of feminine past participle of cheoir “to fall” (from unattested Vulgar Latin cadēre, for Latin cadere ), with vowel of Middle French chue, Old French cheue, a variant past participle; some senses influenced by shoot ¹; see also cadence, case ¹

Origin of chute²

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20; by shortening

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chute chuted chuting

When a claw lifts a plushie and drops it inches from the chute, the brain doesn’t register a failure, Ludvig said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Here’s where economics will take a far-reaching hand, as public investors should note, given the spate of initial public offerings coming down the chute.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

And that decision has to be made in a heartbeat at the end of a mile-long ice chute covered at speeds exceeding 90 mph.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

Whitney, below the notorious “final 400” stretch, a dangerously steep chute along the route that is particularly challenging to navigate in the winter months.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026

He shut the doors of the furnace and pulled the lever for coal; there was the same loud rattle of coal against the tin sides of the chute.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright

A survey where people are cattle chuted to these options: open the square and this, open the square and this, open the square and this.

From Slate ● May 25, 2021

This time the First Allied Airborne Army chuted to within artillery range of the ground forces.

From Time Magazine Archive

News reports first indicated that a frogman had chuted into the ocean in a quick look for any survivors.

From Time Magazine Archive

Once we were chuted up, we had to stay on our feet because it would be impossible to get back up without help.

From Time Magazine Archive

Years ago all these slopes were denuded of their valuable timber, which was "chuted" down to the Lake and then towed across to the sawmills at Glenbrook.

From The Lake of the Sky Lake Tahoe in the High Sierras of California and Nevada, its History, Indians, Discovery by Frémont, Legendary Lore, Various Namings, Physical Characteristics, Glacial Phenomena, Geology, Single Outlet, Automobile Routes, Historic Towns, Early Mining Excitements, Steamer Ride, Mineral Springs, Mountain and Lake Resorts, Trail and Camping Out Trips, Summer Residences, Fishing, Hunting, Flowers, Birds, Animals, Trees, and Chaparral, with a Full Account of the Tahoe National Forest, the Public Use of the Water of Lake Tahoe and Much Other Interesting Matter by George Wharton James

The encircling mountains are a kind of flood-making machine, chuting rain down arroyos and canyons for killer floods, most memorably in 1914, 1934 and 1938.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2022

When chuting is not practicable it will pay often to shovel the stone into buckets handled by a stiff-leg derrick rather than to unload it onto the bank.

From Concrete Construction Methods and Costs by Halbert Powers Gillette

A third man will level off the sand and stone in the measuring hopper and help in the chuting.

From Concrete Construction Methods and Costs by Halbert Powers Gillette