slit
Americanverb (used with object)
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slits,
present (3rd person singular)
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slit,
past participle, past
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slitting
present participle
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to cut apart or open along a line; make a long cut, fissure, or opening in.
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to cut or rend into strips; split.
noun
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slits
plural
verb
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to make a straight long incision in; split open
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to cut into strips lengthwise
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to sever
noun
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a long narrow cut
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a long narrow opening
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slitsimple
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slitssimple
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have slitperfect
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has slitperfect
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am slittingprogressive
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are slittingprogressive
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is slittingprogressive
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have been slittingperfect progressive
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has been slittingperfect progressive
Past
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slitsimple
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had slitperfect
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was slittingprogressive
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were slittingprogressive
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had been slittingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slit
1175–1225; Middle English slitte (noun), slitten (v.); cognate with German schlitzen to split, slit; akin to Old English slite a slit, geslit a bite, slītan to split; see slice
Explanation
A very narrow slot or cut in something is a slit. You might fill your pita bread with falafel by first making a slit in its side. A long strip of sunlight might shine through a slit in your curtains and wake you up in the morning. Or you may narrow your eyes to slits in anger when you see the mess your sister made in your room. You can also use this word as a verb, to mean "cut into," like when you slit a croissant and insert jam, or slit an envelope with an old-fashioned letter opener.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Each slit functions like an artificial atom, or meta-atom.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
And singer Rose, a multiple Grammy nominee this year for "APT," her banger collab with Bruno Mars, wore a chic strapless black dress with a high slit and an outsized bird brooch at her waist.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
Knowing approximately when to head home for the day could be guessed by examining nature—even by looking at a sheep’s pupils, which go from a rectangular slit to a wide orb as the light fades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Her only contact with other humans is a slit through which she can hear daily mass, save for Marte, the low-ranking Beguine assigned to deliver her meals and empty her slop bucket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
A stiff plastic square—white border, black center—unspooled from the slit along the camera’s front.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
The two men strolled around the grounds of the castle, taking in the pointless folly of the battlements and arrow slits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Popular styles include corseted bodices, high slits, feathered trains, detachable capes and beaded sleeves.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
It found that these particles, which can either act like a particle or wave, acted as waves passing through both slits in the experiment when they were unobserved.
From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2025
Seat of the county of Los Angeles since it opened in 1960, it looks like a Lego block with slits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2025
Now Judd’s looking at me good, eyes narrowed down to little slits, “Your pa put you up to this?”
From "Shiloh" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Pork is not halal, and other animals, such as chicken, beef and lamb, must be slaughtered under certified-halal standards such as the humane slitting of the throat.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2022
The new facility, built on 12 acres of land, will occupy 75,000 square feet for its composites slitting and winding technology, as well as 9,000 square feet of refrigerated warehousing.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2019
The rough scrape of a spoon scouring the empty cup of a emptied avocado, the stitching of a paring knife slitting a vanilla bean pod.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2018
The Arizona Republican Party, they’re just slitting their own throats,’ said John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, which has a larger population than St. Louis.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2018
And in the four hundred years Kino’s people had learned only one defense—a slight slitting of the eyes and a slight tightening of the lips and a retirement.
From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
