slash
/slæʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.65 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Something resembling such a mark:
noun
Something resembling such a mark:
Example Sentences
- "A slash of his blade just missed my ear."
- "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."
- "After the war ended, the army saw a 50% slash in their operating budget."
- "He was bleeding from a slash across his cheek."
- "We passed over the shoulder of a ridge and around the edge of a fire slash, and then we had the mountain fairly before us."
- "Initial inquiries among professional typists uncover names like slant, slant line, slash, and slash mark. Examination of typing instruction manuals discloses additional names such as diagonal and diagonal mark, and other sources provide the designation oblique."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -, esclachier, *slītan
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /slæʃ/
- British English: /slaʃ/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.