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chute

(sht)

a. An inclined trough, passage, or channel through or down which things may pass.

b. A narrow, usually fenced passage for horses or cattle.

c. A usually straight extension of one side of an oval racetrack, used to start certain longer races so that the finish line can be kept on a straightaway in front of the stands or clubhouse.

d. A gated stall that is used to hold and release animals into an open area, especially horses and steers being ridden in a rodeo.

2. A waterfall or rapid.

3. A parachute.

v. chut·ed, chut·ing, chutes

v.tr.

To convey or deposit by a chute.

v.intr.

To go or descend by a chute.

Idiom:

out of the chute

At the very beginning; right away: Sales were strong right out of the chute.

[French, a fall, alteration (influenced by chu) of Old French cheoite, from feminine past participle of cheoir, to fall, from Vulgar Latin *cadēre, from Latin cadere; see kad- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots. Sense 3, short for PARACHUTE.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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