slashed; slashing; slashes
: to lash out, cut, or thrash about with or as if with an edged blade
1
: to cut with or as if with rough sweeping strokes
3
: to cut slits in (something, such as a garment) so as to reveal a color beneath
4
: to criticize cuttingly
5
: to reduce sharply : cut
1
: the act of slashing
also
: a long cut or stroke made by or as if by slashing
2
: an ornamental slit in a garment
3
a
: an open tract in a forest strewn with debris (as from logging)
b
: the debris in such a tract
4
: a mark / used typically to denote "or" (as in and/or), "and or" (as in straggler/deserter), or "per" (as in feet/second)
called also diagonal, slant, solidus, virgule
5
or slash fiction
: a genre of fan fiction which features a romantic pairing of two usually male fictional characters who are not romantically connected in the original work of fiction
If women are the prime producers of the stuff, one would imagine that slash would be as full of male-female fantasies as male-male fantasies, but that's not the case.—Owen Smith
Here's a sampling of Harry Potter slash, taken from a novella called "Irresistible Poison," about a budding romance between Harry and his archenemy Draco Malfoy.—Christopher Noxon
I don't know whether Moody has read Kirk/Spock slash fiction, either, but I bet he's heard of it …—Elizabeth Hand
: a low swampy area often overgrown with brush
Cite this Entry
“Slash.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slash. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.
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