chute

noun

\ ˈshüt

variants: or less commonly shute

Definition of chute

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : 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

verb

chuted; chuting

Definition of chute (Entry 2 of 2)

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)

Examples of chute in a Sentence

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: Noun

Externally, here’s what the diner sees: Each order begins with a brioche bun traveling across one of several chutes, aided along by a wooden block. — Justin Phillips, SFChronicle.com, "Six things to know about Creator, San Francisco’s new burger robot restaurant," 27 June 2018 An orthopedist once jumped from a plane, hit terminal velocity of 120 miles per hour, and deployed his chute, and the forces dislocated his shoulder. — Marc Peruzzi, Outside Online, "19 Lessons I Learned from Extreme Sports Pros," 25 June 2018 Inside the concrete frame, engineers are testing six-sided scanners while contractors weld chutes and line the rafters with wires. — Paul Ziobro, WSJ, "UPS’s $20 Billion Problem: Operations Stuck in the 20th Century," 15 June 2018 Then my little dears would press their faces mournfully against the glass, checking the chutes for any stray M&Ms. — Charlotte Hilton Andersen, Redbook, "Parenting Challenge: How Do You Get Through the Vending Machine Gauntlet?," 15 Jan. 2012 Once through the slot and after negotiating their way down a chute, Tucker and Hunter were in a final chamber that had an inordinate number of fossils. — Lydia Pyne, Ars Technica, "Rising Star found a new species—now it wants to find a new way for paleoanthropology," 20 Dec. 2018 Inspectors found American Diamond had not set up adequate protection for workers above ground level, and had workers dropping debris to the ground without a disposal chute. — Joseph N. Distefano, Philly.com, "U.S. cites three contractors for N3rd St. worker death," 9 July 2018 There are also homes with multiple roofs on a ridge line that form a fold, funneling snow down chutes to certain areas of the ground, while others have a narrow arch, reducing the surface and thus space for snow accumulation. — Nancy Keates, WSJ, "Homes in Snowy Places Leave Pitched Roofs Out in the Cold," 28 Nov. 2018 The little red men carry the parcels across a floor that resembles a giant checkerboard and plunk them down chutes to sacks. — Danielle Paquette, The Seattle Times, "Robots at Chinese e-commerce giant making workers obsolete," 10 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'chute.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.