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

They’ve been using it as a kind of laundry chute.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

PITTSBURGH—Lemon, a five-pound Chihuahua, waited at the starting line until her owner signaled “go,” then pulled a wheeled cart weighing 260 pounds down a 16-foot chute.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025

Subterranean bins have been built into the brick pavement on street corners, where residents can drop their bags into a chute above ground.

From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2025

On its first day in operation, as ocean waves crashed behind him, an EPA contractor used a Bobcat with a front claw to pick up a metal drum and hold it over the machine’s chute.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2025

It tumbles and bangs down the sides of the chute, as if my words are shouting their truth one last time.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

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

We chuted up and pulled the adjustment straps down good and tight because we knew we were so loaded that we were going to get one hell of an opening shock.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the other case the sand and the stone were chuted directly into the charging hopper from overhead bins and the mixer discharged into one-batch buckets on cars.

From Concrete Construction Methods and Costs by Gillette, Halbert Powers

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

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 Gillette, Halbert Powers

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 Gillette, Halbert Powers