slash

I. verb Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1548 intransitive verb to lash out, cut, or thrash about with or as if with an edged blade transitive verb 1. to cut with or as if with rough sweeping strokes 2. cane, lash 3. to cut slits in (as a garment) so as to reveal a color beneath 4. to criticize cuttingly 5. to reduce sharply ; cut II. noun Date: 1576 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 III. noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1652 a low swampy area often overgrown with brush