slit

Etymology

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.

noun

1. A narrow cut or opening; a slot.
   The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […]. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess
2. (vulgar, slang) The opening of the vagina.
3. (vulgar, slang, derogatory) A woman, usually a sexually loose woman; a prostitute.

verb

1. To cut a narrow opening.
   He slit the bag open and the rice began pouring out.
2. To split into strips by lengthwise cuts.
3. (transitive) To cut; to sever; to divide.

adj

1. Having a cut narrow opening