slash
noun
- forestry term
- punctuation mark
- act of separating a substance into two with a sharp object or motion
verb
- reduce
- slice off a piece
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /slaʃ/ / /slæʃ/
adv
Etymology: 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.
- Used to note the sound or action of a slash.
conj
Etymology: 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.
- Used to connect two or more identities in a list.
“Saul Hudson is a famous musician/songwriter.”
“What this, the Slashie, means is that you consider me the best actor slash model and not the other way around.”
- Used to list alternatives.
“Alternatives can be marked by the slash/stroke/solidus punctuation mark, a tall, right-slanting oblique line. Read: Alternatives can be marked by the slash-slash-stroke-slash-solidus punctuation mark, a tall, right-slanting oblique line.”
noun
Etymology: See slatch
- Alternative form of slatch: a deep trough of finely-fractured culm or a circular or elliptical pocket of coal.
verb
Etymology: 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”).)
- To work in wet conditions.