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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

slash.

A slashing action or motion:

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. A slashing action or motion: A swift, broad cutting stroke, especially one made with an edged weapon or whip.

    A slash of his blade just missed my ear.
  2. A slashing action or motion: A wide striking motion made with an implement such as a cricket bat, hockey stick, or lacrosse stick.

    He took a wild slash at the ball but the captain saved the team's skin by hacking it clear and setting up the team for a strike on the goal.
  3. A slashing action or motion: A sharp reduction in resources allotted.

    figuratively
    After the war ended, the army saw a 50% slash in their operating budget.
  4. A mark made by slashing: A deep cut or laceration, as made by an edged weapon or whip.

    He was bleeding from a slash across his cheek.
  5. A mark made by slashing: A deep taper-pointed incision in a plant.

  6. Something resembling such a mark: A slit in an outer garment, usually exposing a lining or inner garment of a contrasting color or design.

  7. Something resembling such a mark: A clearing in a forest, particularly one made by logging, fire, or other violent action.

    Canada · US
  8. Something resembling such a mark: The slash mark: the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩.

  9. Something resembling such a mark: The slash mark: the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. Any similar typographical mark, such as the backslash ⟨\⟩.

    often · proscribed
  10. Something resembling such a mark: The slash mark: the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. The conjunctions and or also (during a conversation).

    broadly · idiomatic
  11. Something resembling such a mark: The vulva.

    slang · vulgar
  12. The loose woody debris remaining from a slash; the trimmings left while preparing felled trees for removal.

    Canada · US
    Slash generated during logging may constitute a fire hazard.
  13. A wet or swampy place overgrown with bushes

    obsolete
  14. Slash fiction; fan fiction focused on homoerotic pairing of fictional characters.

    slang
Where this word comes from

Late Middle English, originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Perhaps of imitative origin, or possibly from Old French esclachier (“to break in pieces”), a variant of esclater, which is likely a Germanic borrowing, from Frankish *slaitan (“to slit, tear”). Used in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht (see 1 Kings 5:18) but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. See also slash fiction.

verb/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. To cut or attempt to cut To cut with a swift broad stroke of an edged weapon.

    They slashed at him with their swords, but only managed to nick one of his fingers.
    She hacked and slashed her way across the jungle.
  2. To cut or attempt to cut To produce a similar wound with a savage strike of a whip.

  3. To cut or attempt to cut To strike swiftly and laterally with a hockey stick, usually across another player's arms or legs.

  4. To cut or attempt to cut To reduce sharply.

    figuratively
    All prices slashed!
    Competition forced them to slash prices.
  5. To cut or attempt to cut To create slashes in a garment.

  6. To cut or attempt to cut To criticize cuttingly.

    figuratively
  7. To strike violently and randomly, particularly

  8. To strike violently and randomly To swing wildly at the ball.

  9. To move quickly and violently.

  10. To crack a whip with a slashing motion.

  11. To clear land, (particularly forestry) with violent action such as logging or brushfires or (agriculture, uncommon) through grazing.

    Canada · US
    The province's traditional slash-and-burn agriculture was only sustainable with a much smaller population.
  12. To write slash fiction.

    intransitive · slang
Where this word comes from

Late Middle English, originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Perhaps of imitative origin, or possibly from Old French esclachier (“to break in pieces”), a variant of esclater, which is likely a Germanic borrowing, from Frankish *slaitan (“to slit, tear”). Used in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht (see 1 Kings 5:18) but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. See also slash fiction.

adv/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. Used to note the sound or action of a slash.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

Late Middle English, originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Perhaps of imitative origin, or possibly from Old French esclachier (“to break in pieces”), a variant of esclater, which is likely a Germanic borrowing, from Frankish *slaitan (“to slit, tear”). Used in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht (see 1 Kings 5:18) but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. See also slash fiction.

conj/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. Used to connect two or more identities in a list.

    Canada · US
    Saul Hudson is a famous musician/songwriter.
  2. Used to list alternatives.

    Canada · US
Where this word comes from

Late Middle English, originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Perhaps of imitative origin, or possibly from Old French esclachier (“to break in pieces”), a variant of esclater, which is likely a Germanic borrowing, from Frankish *slaitan (“to slit, tear”). Used in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht (see 1 Kings 5:18) but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ⟨/⟩. See also slash fiction.

noun/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. A drink of something; a draft.

    obsolete · rare
  2. A piss: an act of urination.

    UK · slang · vulgar
    Where's the gents? I need to take a slash.
  3. Piss; urine.

    UK · rare · slang · vulgar
    That bus shelter smells of slash.
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Compare Scots slash (“large splash”), possibly from Old French esclache. Slang use for urination attested from the 1950s.

verb/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. To piss, to urinate.

    UK · intransitive · slang
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Compare Scots slash (“large splash”), possibly from Old French esclache. Slang use for urination attested from the 1950s.

noun/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. A swampy area; a swamp.

    Northern-US · Southern-US
  2. A slash pine, which grows in such (swampy) areas.

    Northern-US · Southern-US · uncommon
  3. A large quantity of watery food such as broth.

    Scotland
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Compare British dialectal slashy (“wet and dirty, miry”) and Scots slash (“act of walking forcefully through water or mud”) and slatch (“wet and muddy place, mire”). Perhaps related to Swedish slask (“slush”). Compare also slash (“clearing in a forest”): in many cases it is difficult to tell whether that sense or this one is meant. (Also compare flash (“a marsh; a pool of water”).)

verb/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. To work in wet conditions.

    Scotland · intransitive
Where this word comes from

Uncertain. Compare British dialectal slashy (“wet and dirty, miry”) and Scots slash (“act of walking forcefully through water or mud”) and slatch (“wet and muddy place, mire”). Perhaps related to Swedish slask (“slush”). Compare also slash (“clearing in a forest”): in many cases it is difficult to tell whether that sense or this one is meant. (Also compare flash (“a marsh; a pool of water”).)

noun/slaʃ/UK/slæʃ/US
  1. Alternative form of slatch: a deep trough of finely-fractured culm or a circular or elliptical pocket of coal.

    UK · alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

See slatch

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.