slashing

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act of cutting or striking with quick, sweeping strokes.

   The slashing of the tires left the car undriveable.

   Repeated slashing of the undergrowth finally cleared a narrow path.

   Similarcutting, hacking, slitting, slicing

   Note

   Counted as separate incidents, the noun takes a plural: a gang may carry out razor slashings on its enemies, each one a distinct attack. Left uncountable, it names the activity itself or its result, as in the slashing of tires or of undergrowth. Choose the plural when you mean individual acts and the mass form when you mean the cutting in general.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of slash.

   Slashing his way through the crowd, he finally reached the exit.

   The company is slashing jobs across all of its departments.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every use of the verb, from the literal stroke of a blade or whip to the figurative ones. Slashing prices or jobs means cutting them sharply, and slashing a rival's work means criticizing it cuttingly. The same spelling also serves as a noun with a plural, slashings, and as an adjective compared with more and most, so the sentence decides which word is in play.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The penalty assessed for using the stick to strike an opposing player.

   Slashing carries a two-minute penalty in most leagues.

   The official assessed slashing when the forward chopped at the goalie's pads.

   Note

   Ice hockey and lacrosse use one word for both the foul and the penalty, and it takes no article: a player is called for slashing or sits two minutes for slashing. The offense is a swift sideways swing of the stick, usually across an opponent's arms or legs. A routine call is a minor penalty, but contact that injures can bring a major and a game misconduct.

4. 4
   noununcountableplural

   The woody debris (branches, treetops, and bark) left behind after timber is cut.

   Crews cleared the slashing before replanting the hillside.

   Dry slashing left from last summer's cut raised the fire risk.

   Similardebris, brash, brush

   Note

   A forester's word, usually in the plural. Crews speak of slashings left on a cut-over site, meaning the same debris the shorter noun slash names. That debris is limbs, treetops and cull wood, often piled or burned because it adds to wildfire fuel. Here the word has nothing to do with the act of cutting; it names what the cutting leaves behind.

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