chute1
/ʃuːt
/(also shoot)
noun
1A sloping channel or slide for conveying things to a lower level: cement was loaded on to barges via chutes...
- The pill slides down the chute into a flexible tube leading to the patient's mouth.
- Facility workers use front-end loaders to shove the trash into two floor chutes, which funnel it to a lower level.
- Disabled people could also be lowered down the chutes more slowly in stretchers.
Synonyms
channel, slide, trough, shaft, funnel, conduit;
ramp, runway
1.1A water slide into a swimming pool.But modern-day swimming pool chutes and ponies captured the imagination and attention of the youngsters....
- If it is successful it would mean the new baths being built just yards away from the old £5 million Water Place with its water chutes and fun pool, which is soon to be bulldozed.
- These are three towering water chutes, in varying levels of steepness, down which you plunge in a rubber dinghy.
Synonyms
water slide, slide, flume, log flume, hydroslide
2A narrow metal enclosure for holding or restraining livestock, in which an animal may be vaccinated, branded, etc. cattle tend to be calmer in a chute with solid sides
Origin
Early 19th century (originally a North American usage): from French, 'fall' (of water or rocks), from Old French cheoite, feminine past participle of cheoir 'to fall', from Latin cadere; influenced by shoot.
The word chute ‘sloping channel’ was originally a North American usage; it is a French word originally meaning ‘fall’ (referring to water or rocks) from Latin cadere ‘to fall’. The word in English has been influenced by shoot.
Rhymes
chute2
/ʃuːt/noun
1 informal A parachute.A skydiver aged 20 said she was ‘totally amazed’ at being alive yesterday after the main chute of her parachute failed to open as she leapt from a plane at 4,000 ft....
- Neither his main parachute or reserve chute appear to have deployed properly after he jumped from a Cessna 182 aircraft.
- A murder inquiry was launched after police discovered that the cord on his main parachute and the strapping on his reserve chute had been expertly and deliberately severed.
1.1 Sailing A spinnaker.One of the people who was now excited about taking a chute for a sail was Jak.
Derivatives
chutist
- No one is needed to stop the chute or collapse it; this is done simply by releasing one or both of the risers, giving the chutist adequate safety control.
- In this way, the wind forces can be dissipated and the chutist allowed time to collapse the parachute in a safe manner, avoiding injuries commonly incurred when dragged over terrain upon landing.
- The distance between the chutists does not appear to be great, but it's crucial when there is such a tight margin for error, especially at harrowing speeds.
Origin
1920s: shortened form.