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

The aim was to halve the time it takes to complete a rail-infrastructure project and slash the cost of project delivery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Many of these fires in Indonesia's forests and peatlands are caused by the razing of vegetation to clear land - a practice known as "slash and burn".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Real-estate coverage: This city saw 1 in 3 home sellers slash their asking price in September to attract reluctant buyers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 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

When both fours are "cut" in half to twos, you have cut time, written as a "C" cut by a vertical slash.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Nomura slashes its 2026 net-profit estimate for the company by 48% to 4.871 trillion won.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 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

AeroVironment slumps after the drone maker misses analysts’ forecasts for the third quarter and slashes guidance.

From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026

Light came out of the chinks and cracks in the buildings, making slashes and dots on the snow.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

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

But the crowd for Sunday's game at Tottenham between Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts only reached 60,907 after ticket prices were slashed, and large sections remain unsold for the Wembley game on 18 October.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

The United States -- traditionally the world's top donor -- has heavily slashed foreign aid, while other major donors have been tightening their belts.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

VW group last week slashed guidance due to around 9 billion euros of fresh charges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

The bard slashed and thrust at the air.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

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

As more homes hit the market, sellers in many areas are slashing prices..

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

Most of the global targets they set four years ago -- from tackling invasive species to conserving 30 percent of land and oceans, slashing pollution and protecting threatened species -- are off-track.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 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

He calls me in his office every once in a while, scans the month’s articles with a red pencil, marking and slashing and grunting.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

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Related Words

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

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