slit

Definition

A narrow cut or opening; a slot.

Etymology

From Middle English slitten, 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. Apparently unrelated to English slot, whose etymology, however, is uncertain.

Example Sentences

• "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.[…]."
• "[…]I twiſted my thighs, ſqueezed, and compreſs’d the lips of that virgin-ſlit[…]"