chute
chute Lexical Profile
chute Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A sloping channel, trough, or shaft through which objects, materials, or water can slide or drop to a lower level.
"Hotel staff dropped the soiled linens down the laundry chute to the basement."
An informal shortening of parachute.
"The skydiver pulled the ripcord and watched the main chute billow open above her."
A steep, narrow, rapid section of a river or waterfall, or a steep, narrow couloir on a mountainside.
"The kayakers carefully scouted the rocky chute before paddling through the rapids."
North American A narrow fenced passage or stall used for holding, sorting, or loading livestock, or for releasing animals in a rodeo.
"The veterinarian guided the steer into the squeeze chute to administer the vaccine."
• verb
To send, drop, or convey down an inclined channel or chute.
"Workers chuted the harvested grain directly from the silo into the waiting railcars."
To descend or drop by parachute (informal).
"The rescue team chuted into the remote mountain valley to reach the stranded hikers."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'chute' (a sloping channel or slide, or short for parachute) with its homophone 'shoot' (to propel a projectile, or a young plant sprout).
• Rhymes for chute
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 19th century from French chute, meaning 'a fall' (from Old French cheoite, ultimately from Vulgar Latin cadita, a feminine past participle of Latin cadere, 'to fall'). The informal sense meaning 'parachute' arose separately in the 20th century by clipping the first two syllables of parachute.