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View synonyms for chute

chute

1

[ shoot ]

noun

  1. an inclined channel, as a trough, tube, or shaft, for conveying water, grain, coal, etc., to a lower level.
  2. a waterfall or steep descent, as in a river.
  3. a water slide, as at an amusement park.
  4. a steep slope, as for tobogganing.
  5. a narrow corridor or enclosure for livestock that keeps the animals moving in single file or holds an animal in a forward-facing position until released to proceed into a designated area.


verb (used with object)

, chut·ed, chut·ing.
  1. to move or deposit, by or as if by means of a chute:

    The dock had facilities for chuting grain directly into the hold of a vessel.

verb (used without object)

, chut·ed, chut·ing.
  1. to descend by or as if by means of a chute.

chute

2

[ shoot ]

noun

verb (used without object)

, chut·ed, chut·ing.
  1. to descend from the air by or as if by a parachute.

verb (used with object)

, chut·ed, chut·ing.
  1. to drop from an aircraft by means of a parachute:

    Supplies were chuted to the snowbound mountain climbers.

chute

1

/ ʃuːt /

noun

  1. an inclined channel or vertical passage down which water, parcels, coal, etc, may be dropped
  2. a steep slope, used as a slide as for toboggans
  3. a slide into a swimming pool
  4. a narrow passageway through which animals file for branding, spraying, etc
  5. a rapid or waterfall


chute

2

/ ʃuːt /

noun

  1. informal.
    short for parachute

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Derived Forms

  • ˈchutist, noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of chute1

First recorded in 1715–25; from French, Middle French, representing Old French cheoite “a fall,” noun use of feminine past participle of cheoir “to fall” (from unattested Vulgar Latin cadēre, for Latin cadere ), with vowel of Middle French chue, Old French cheue, a variant past participle; some senses influenced by shoot 1; cadence, case 1

Origin of chute2

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20; by shortening

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Word History and Origins

Origin of chute1

C19: from Old French cheoite, feminine past participle of cheoir to fall, from Latin cadere; in some senses, a variant spelling of shoot

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. out of the chute, at the start; at the very beginning:

    The new business made mistakes right out of the chute and failed within a year.

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Example Sentences

If you aren’t rappelling into 50-degree chutes or navigating knife-edge ridges, most of the terrain forgives poor mountaineering skills.

They utilize a rotating blade to remove snow from a surface and then propel it through a chute.

Open the window, and down the chute into a trick-or-treat bag.

From Ozy

This food processor from Hamilton Beach is set apart by its ability to accommodate larger items thanks to an extra-wide feed chute and 14-cup capacity bowl.

The jump height out of the Dornier 228 airplane he and the others fling themselves out of is 3,000 feet above the ground, although smokejumpers who use an older, round-style chute do it from 1,500 feet.

Lane rose, but then he motioned to the chute, where the other cowboys were sitting astride the fences.

Some get hurt in the chute, which fits the bull like a coffin.

Even show ponies are not exempt from ending up in a narrowing chute that feeds the condemned in single file into the “stun box.”

Say what you will about the Israelis, but they are not slow out of the chute.

Try throwing all of these countries all into the single factory chute of identity.

In the first place it had been constructed to serve the purpose of a stairway and chute.

If ya would put' em through the chute, one at a time, 'stead of pushin' 'em up in droves, I could answer better.

Hollister began at the bottom of the chute, as he was beginning at the bottom of his fortune, to build up again.

It fell to a low level, but not so low that Hollister ever failed to shift his cedar bolts from chute mouth to mill.

The bolt piles grew; they were hurled swiftly down the chute into the dwindling river, rafted to the mill.

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tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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