different between mutilate vs slash

English

Etymology

From Latin mutilatus, the past participle of mutilo (“to mutilate”), itself from mutilus (“maimed”).

Pronunciation

• (verb) IPA^(key): /?mju?t?le?t/
• (adjective) IPA^(key): /?mju?t?l?t/

Verb

mutilate (third-person singular simple present mutilates, present participle mutilating, simple past and past participle mutilated)

1. To physically harm as to impair use, notably by cutting off or otherwise disabling a vital part, such as a limb.
2. To destroy beyond recognition.
3. (figuratively) To render imperfect or defective.
   • 1862, George Long, translation of Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book V:

     For two reasons then it is right to be content with that which happens to thee; the one, because it was done for thee and prescribed for thee, and in a manner had reference to thee, originally from the most ancient causes spun with thy destiny; and the other, because even that which comes severally to every man is to the power which administers the universe a cause of felicity and perfection, nay even of its very continuance. For the integrity of the whole is mutilated, if thou cuttest off anything whatever from the conjunction and the continuity either of the parts or of the causes. And thou dost cut off, as far as it is in thy power, when thou art dissatisfied, and in a manner triest to put anything out of the way.

Synonyms

• maim
• mangle

Derived terms

• mutilation
• mutilative
• mutilator

Translations

Adjective

mutilate (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Deprived of, or having lost, an important part; mutilated.
   • 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici

     mutilate and semi-bodies

2. (zoology) Having fin-like appendages or flukes instead of legs, as a cetacean does.

Alternative forms

• mut. (abbreviation)

See also

• amputate, amputation
• castrate, castration
• circumcise, circumcision

Anagrams

• ultimate

Italian

Verb

mutilate

1. second-person plural present indicative of mutilare
2. second-person plural imperative of mutilare
3. feminine plural of mutilato

Anagrams

• multiate
• ultimate

Latin

Verb

mutil?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of mutil?

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sla?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /slæ?/
• Hyphenation: slash
• Rhymes: -æ?

Etymology 1

Originally a verb of uncertain etymology. Possibly from French esclachier (“to break”). Used once in the Wycliffe Bible as slascht but otherwise unattested until 16th century. Conjunctive use from various applications of the punctuation mark ?/?. See also slash fiction.

Noun

slash (plural slashes)

1. A slashing action or motion, particularly:
   1. A swift, broad, cutting stroke made by an edged weapon or whip.

   2. (cricket) A wild swinging strike of the bat.
   3. (ice hockey, lacrosse) A hard swift lateral strike with a hockey or lacrosse stick, usually across another player's arms or legs.
   4. Any similar wide striking motion.

   5. (figuratively) A sharp reduction.

2. A mark made by a slashing motion, particularly:
   1. A cut or laceration, often deep, made by an edged weapon or whip.

   2. (botany) A deep taper-pointed incision in a plant.
3. Something resembling such a mark, particularly:
   1. (fashion) A slit in an outer garment exposing a lining or inner garment, usually of a contrasting color or design; any intentional long vertical cut in a garment.
   2. (US and Canada) A clearing in a forest, (particularly) those made by logging, fire, or other violent action.
      • 1895, Henry Van Dyke, Little Rivers: A Book of Essays in Profitable Idleness

        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.

   3. (originally US, typography) The slash mark: the punctuation mark ?/?, sometimes (often proscribed) inclusive of any mark produced by a similar slashing movement of the pen, as the backslash ?\?.
      • 1965, Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation, page 240:

        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.

   4. (vulgar, slang) Female genitalia.
4. (US and Canada) The loose woody debris remaining from a slash, (particularly forestry) the trimmings left while preparing felled trees for removal.

5. (fandom slang) Slash fiction.
   • 2013, Katherine Arcement, "Diary", London Review of Books, vol. 35, no. 5:

     Comments merely allow readers to proclaim themselves mortally offended by the content of a story, despite having been warned in large block letters of INCEST or SLASH (any kind of sex between two men or two women: the term originated with the Kirk/Spock pairing – it described the literal slash between their names).

Synonyms

• (deep cut): gash
• (typographic mark): slash mark; solidus (formal name); stroke (chiefly UK); forward slash, forward stroke, foreslash, frontslash, front slash (sometimes proscribed); virgule (marking line breaks); shilling mark (UK, historical currency sign); slants, slant lines (marking pronunciations); separatrix (proofreading mark); scratch comma (former use as a form of comma); oblique, oblique mark, oblique stroke, oblique dash (chiefly UK, dated); diagonal, diagonal mark (dated); virgula (obsolete); virgil (UK, obsolete); whack (improper); bar (improper, obsolete)
• (vulgar term for female genitalia): See cunt

Antonyms

• backslash

Hypernyms

• (typographic mark): fraction bar (in fractions); division sign (in division)

Hyponyms

• division slash
• fraction slash

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Punctuation

Verb

slash (third-person singular simple present slashes, present participle slashing, simple past and past participle slashed)

1. To cut or attempt to cut, particularly:
   1. To cut with a swift broad stroke of an edged weapon.

   2. To produce a similar wound with a savage strike of a whip.
   3. (ice hockey) To strike swiftly and laterally with a hockey stick, usually across another player's arms or legs.
   4. (figuratively) To reduce sharply.

   5. (fashion) To create slashes in a garment.
   6. (figuratively) To criticize cuttingly.
2. To strike violently and randomly, particularly:
   1. (cricket) To swing wildly at the ball.
3. To move quickly and violently.
4. To crack a whip with a slashing motion.
5. (US, Canada) To clear land, (particularly forestry) with violent action such as logging or brushfires or (agriculture, uncommon) through grazing.

6. (intransitive, fandom slang) To write slash fiction.

Synonyms

• (to strike with a whip): lash, scourge, thrash
• (to strike a whip): crack

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

• (slash fiction): ship

Translations

Adverb

slash (not comparable)

1. Used to note the sound or action of a slash.

Conjunction

slash

1. (US and Canada) Used to connect two or more identities in a list.
   • 2001, Fabio Lanzoni, Zoolander:

     What this, the Slashie, means is that you consider me the best actor slash model and not the other way around.

2. (US and Canada) 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.

Usage notes

Typically written with the slash mark ?/? and only spoken or transcribed as slash. Often omitted from speech and only marked as a brief pause between the alternatives. Exclusively omitted in common constructions such as and/or, either/or, and washer/dryer.

Synonyms

• (exclusive or): or
• (inclusive or): and, or, and/or
• (UK): stroke

Further reading

• slash on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Of uncertain etymology. Compare Scots slash (“large splash”), possibly from Old French esclache. Slang use for urination attested from the 1950s.

Noun

slash (plural slashes)

1. (obsolete, rare) A drink of something; a draft.
2. (vulgar, Britain, slang) A piss: an act of urination.

   Where's the gents? I need to take a slash.

Verb

slash (third-person singular simple present slashes, present participle slashing, simple past and past participle slashed)

1. (Britain, slang, intransitive) To piss, to urinate.
   • 1973, Martin Amis, The Rachel Papers, page 189:

     If you can slash in my bed (I thought) don't tell me you can't suck my cock.

Translations

Etymology 3

Of uncertain etymology. Compare flash (“a marsh; a pool of water”) and British dialectal slashy (“wet and dirty, miry”).

Noun

slash (plural slashes)

1. (US) A swampy area; a swamp.
2. (Scotland) A large quantity of watery food such as broth.

Verb

slash (third-person singular simple present slashes, present participle slashing, simple past and past participle slashed)

1. (Scotland, intransitive) To work in wet conditions.

Etymology 4

See slatch

Noun

slash (plural slashes)

1. (Britain) Alternative form of slatch: a deep trough of finely-fractured culm or a circular or elliptical pocket of coal.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "slash, v.¹ & v.²" & "slash, n.¹, n.², n.³, & n.?". Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1911.

Anagrams

• LSSAH

Spanish

Noun

slash m (plural slash)

1. (punctuation) slash