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.
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.
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)
an open area strewn with debris of trees from felling or from wind or fire.
Another thing about planet tea party: Its occupants still want to slash government spending by massive amounts.
On Border, a Huge Win for the Hard Right|Michael Tomasky|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I would have added “no photographs of meditative politicians walking on the shore” with a slash though a silhouette of JFK.
Why I Hate The Beach|P. J. O’Rourke|July 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Police say he continued to stab and slash as he returned to the hallway, causing other students to stampede away from him.
Thank God the Murrysville School Attack Wasn’t Guns|Michael Daly|April 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
"By science," said Miss Miniver, and hurried on, putting out a rhetorical hand that showed a slash of finger through its glove.
Ann Veronica|H. G. Wells
He is not himself at all and he is going to slash your tires if you pass that rope, Mr. Swiper.
Pee-wee Harris on the Trail|Percy Keese Fitzhugh
Weedon Scott had believed that he was quick enough to avoid any snap or slash.
White Fang|Jack London
Should they break through our barricades, slash at the horses with your scythes.
Micah Clarke|Arthur Conan Doyle
Powerful as a small tank, the killer robot was equipped to crush, slash, and burn its way through undergrowth.
Survival Tactics|Al Sevcik
British Dictionary definitions for slash
slash
/ (slæʃ) /
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
mainlyUSto 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
littered wood chips and broken branches that remain after trees have been cut down
an area so littered
Also called: diagonal, forward slash, separatrix, shilling mark, solidus, stroke, virgulea 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
Britishslangthe 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