Meanings
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1
noun
a long narrow opening
A narrow slit in the wall admitted a line of light.
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2
noun
a narrow fissure
A narrow slit in the wall admitted a line of light.
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3
noun
a depression scratched or carved into a surface
A narrow slit in the wall admitted a line of light.
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4
verb
cut a slit into
slit the throat of the victim
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Middle English slitten, from Old English slītan, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leyd- (“to tear, rend (cut apart), split apart”). Possibly cognate with Latin laed- (“to strike, hurt, injure”). Doublet of slite; also related to slice through French borrowing. Apparently unrelated to English slot, whose etymology, however, is uncertain.