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definitions

slashing

[slash-ing]
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noun

a slash.

adjective

sweeping; cutting.
violent; severe: a slashing wind.
dashing; impetuous.
vivid; flashing; brilliant.
Informal. very large or fine; splendid: a slashing fortune.

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How To Use The SlashThe slash (/)—sometimes called a slant, a solidus, a stroke, or a virgule—is a commonly employed symbol in the English language. Whatever you want to call this piece of punctuation, its role in English has greatly changed over time. The word slash first entered English in the late 14th century as a verb to describe the cutting movement of a weapon, a word derived from …
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H/TRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
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RELATED WORDS

withering, caustic, scathing, cutting, bitter, acerbic, acid, acidic, acrid, acrimonious, astringent, corrosive, incisive, mordacious, mordant, pungent, severe, sharp, trenchant, truculent

Nearby words

  1. slash-saw,
  2. slashdot effect,
  3. slasher,
  4. slasher movie,
  5. slashfest,
  6. slashingly,
  7. slat,
  8. slat back,
  9. slatch,
  10. slate

Origin of slashing

First recorded in 1590–1600; slash1 + -ing1, -ing2
Related formsslash·ing·ly, adverb

slash

1
[slash]

verb (used with object)

to cut with a violent sweeping stroke or by striking violently and at random, as with a knife or sword.
to lash; whip.
to cut, reduce, or alter: The editors slashed the story to half its length.
to make slits in (a garment) to show an underlying fabric.
to criticize, censure, or attack in a savage or cutting manner.

verb (used without object)

to lay about one with sharp, sweeping strokes; make one's way by cutting.
to make a sweeping, cutting stroke.

noun

a sweeping stroke, as with a knife, sword, or pen.
a cut, wound, or mark made with such a stroke.
a curtailment, reduction, or alteration: a drastic slash of prices.
a decorative slit in a garment showing an underlying fabric.
  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)
Compare forward slash, backslash.
(in forest land)
  1. an open area strewn with debris of trees from felling or from wind or fire.
  2. the debris itself.
Slang. slash fiction.

Origin of slash

1
1350–1400; Middle English slaschen < ?
Related formsun·slashed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for slashing

British Dictionary definitions for slashing

slashing

adjective

aggressively or harshly critical (esp in the phrase slashing attack)
Derived Formsslashingly, adverb

slash

verb (tr)

to cut or lay about (a person or thing) with sharp sweeping strokes, as with a sword, knife, etc
to lash with a whip
to make large gashes into slash tyres
to reduce (prices, etc) drastically
mainly US to criticize harshly
to slit (the outer fabric of a garment) so that the lining material is revealed
to clear (scrub or undergrowth) by cutting

noun

a sharp, sweeping stroke, as with a sword or whip
a cut or rent made by such a stroke
a decorative slit in a garment revealing the lining material
US and Canadian
  1. littered wood chips and broken branches that remain after trees have been cut down
  2. an area so littered
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
British slang the act of urinating (esp in the phrase have a slash)
a genre of erotic fiction written by women, to appeal to women

Word Origin for slash

C14 slaschen, perhaps from Old French esclachier to break
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 slashing
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper