slash1

verb

• 1cut with a wide, sweeping movement, typically using a knife or sword:she tried to kill herself by slashing her wrists a tyre was slashed on my car [no object]:the man slashed at him with a sword
• informal reduce (a price, quantity, etc.) greatly:the workforce has been slashed by 2,000
• (as adjective slashing) informal vigorously incisive or effective:a slashing magazine attack on her

• 2 archaic lash, whip, or thrash: slash him with bridle-reins and dog-whips!
• crack (a whip): he slashed his whip so near the horse that the creature was frightened
• criticize severely: it was Lewes who had slashed the book

noun

• 1a wide, sweeping stroke made with a knife or sword:the man took a mighty slash at his head with a large sword
• a long, deep cut made by a knife or sword:he staggered over with a crimson slash across his temple
• a bright patch or flash of colour or light:the foliage is handsome—yellow and gold with the odd slash of red

• 2an oblique stroke (/) in print or writing, used between alternatives (e.g. and/or), in fractions (e.g. 3/4), in ratios (e.g. miles/day), or between separate elements of a text: sentence breaks are highlighted by slashes
• [as modifier] denoting or belonging to a genre of fiction, chiefly published in fanzines, in which any of various male pairings from the popular media is portrayed as having a homosexual relationship:this year’s sleeper hit is a faithful screen adaptation of Star Trek slash fiction

  [ 1980s: from the use of an oblique stroke to link adjoining names or initials (as in Kirk/Spock)]

• 3British informal an act of urinating: Gary went upstairs for a slash

• 4 [mass noun] North American debris resulting from the felling or destruction of trees: the mountainsides were strewn with slash