chute
1 of 2noun
ˈshüt 
variants or less commonly shute
1
a
: fall sense 6b
b
: a quick descent (as in a river) : rapid
2
: an inclined plane, sloping channel, or passage down or through which things may pass : slide
3
: parachute
4
: spinnaker
chute
2 of 2verb
chuted; chuting
transitive verb
: to convey by a chute
intransitive verb
1
: to go in or as if in a chute
2
: to utilize a chute (as by passing ore down it)
Example Sentences
Noun She dropped the towels into the laundry chute. children sliding down a water chute The skiers came racing down the chute.
Recent Examples on the Web
IndyStar, 23 Aug. 2022 Orders are delivered to customers via a vertical chute from the second-floor kitchen. Fortune, 17 Aug. 2022 In 1977 Jim Balcome was running his fastest time at the Manchester Road Race – until he was forced to stop about 600 yards from the finish line due to a bottleneck of people going through the chute. Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 18 Aug. 2022 Five hours north on Route 101 from San Francisco to Humboldt County, through a few cool redwood groves, Johnny Casali turns on a woodchipper and empties 55 pounds of pot into the chute. Will Yakowicz, Forbes, 2 Aug. 2022 And a more complicated ethical conundrum recently hit the courts: In 2020, two experienced snowboarders in Summit County, Colorado, filmed themselves discussing the slide risks of dropping into a chute above Interstate 70. Outside Online, 24 Jan. 2022 Visiting a ski resort and aiming snow-machine chute directly at our armpits. Scott Jacobson, The New Yorker, 3 July 2021 With each keystroke, a small brass mold for a single character—a capital B, for instance—releases from an overhead magazine, slides down a chute, and goes clinking into place like a quarter in a coin sorter. Nick Yetto, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Mar. 2022 Thankfully, the more pensive Ben, the middle brother, had covered the hard basement floor with laundry before young Beau came tumbling down the chute. Matt Seyler, ABC News, 30 May 2021 Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Apr. 2022 Oh, chute: If there are freshies to be had, Blackley starts at the Milly Express lift and makes laps. Julie Jag, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Oct. 2021 As a result, when the pilot chutes deployed to pull out the mains, one of them was not properly connected. William Harwood, CBS News, 7 Nov. 2019 The animal chutes blocked the escape as the oil and wax that had been used to waterproof the tent caught fire and turned the big top into a raging inferno. Steven Goode, courant.com, 6 July 2019 The clouds of jumpers, with round ‘chutes akin to those used by D-Day soldiers, were honoring the thousands of paratroopers who leapt into gunfire and death 75 years ago. Washington Post, 6 June 2019 See More
Noun
Indiana law prohibits electioneering within polls or the chute, the 50-foot area for voters to line up before the polls. IndyStar, 23 Aug. 2022 Orders are delivered to customers via a vertical chute from the second-floor kitchen. Fortune, 17 Aug. 2022 In 1977 Jim Balcome was running his fastest time at the Manchester Road Race – until he was forced to stop about 600 yards from the finish line due to a bottleneck of people going through the chute. Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 18 Aug. 2022 Five hours north on Route 101 from San Francisco to Humboldt County, through a few cool redwood groves, Johnny Casali turns on a woodchipper and empties 55 pounds of pot into the chute. Will Yakowicz, Forbes, 2 Aug. 2022 And a more complicated ethical conundrum recently hit the courts: In 2020, two experienced snowboarders in Summit County, Colorado, filmed themselves discussing the slide risks of dropping into a chute above Interstate 70. Outside Online, 24 Jan. 2022 Visiting a ski resort and aiming snow-machine chute directly at our armpits. Scott Jacobson, The New Yorker, 3 July 2021 With each keystroke, a small brass mold for a single character—a capital B, for instance—releases from an overhead magazine, slides down a chute, and goes clinking into place like a quarter in a coin sorter. Nick Yetto, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Mar. 2022 Thankfully, the more pensive Ben, the middle brother, had covered the hard basement floor with laundry before young Beau came tumbling down the chute. Matt Seyler, ABC News, 30 May 2021 Verb
The mountains bear that bright March radiance, glowing in creamy white palettes that chute down their steep sides. Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Apr. 2022 Oh, chute: If there are freshies to be had, Blackley starts at the Milly Express lift and makes laps. Julie Jag, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Oct. 2021 As a result, when the pilot chutes deployed to pull out the mains, one of them was not properly connected. William Harwood, CBS News, 7 Nov. 2019 The animal chutes blocked the escape as the oil and wax that had been used to waterproof the tent caught fire and turned the big top into a raging inferno. Steven Goode, courant.com, 6 July 2019 The clouds of jumpers, with round ‘chutes akin to those used by D-Day soldiers, were honoring the thousands of paratroopers who leapt into gunfire and death 75 years ago. Washington Post, 6 June 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
French, from Old French, from cheoir to fall, from Latin cadere — more at chance
First Known Use
Noun
1805, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1884, in the meaning defined at transitive sense
Phrases Containing chute
Kids Definition
chute
noun
ˈshüt
1
: a tube or passage down or through which people slide or things are slid or dropped
a laundry chute
Children slid down the chute.
2
: parachute entry 1
chutes
noun
variants also shutes
as in rapids
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- rapids
- flumes
- shoots
- cascades
- waterfalls
- white waters
- falls
- cataracts