Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Slit

Slit , 3d. pers. sing. pres.

3d. pers. sing. pres. of Slide. [obsolete] — Chaucer

Slit , transitive verb

[Old English slitten, from sliten, Anglo-Saxon stītan to tear; akin to Dutch slijten to wear out, German schleissen to slit, split, Old High German slīzan to split, tear, wear out, Icelandic stīta to break, tear, wear out, Swedish slita, Danish slide. Compare Eclat, Slate, n., Slice.]

1.
To cut lengthwise; to cut into long pieces or strips; as, to slit iron bars into nail rods; to slit leather into straps.
2.
To cut or make a long fissure in or upon; as, to slit the ear or the nose.
3.
To cut; to sever; to divide. [Obsolete]
And slits the thin-spun life. — Milton

Slit , noun

[Anglo-Saxon slite.]

A long cut; a narrow opening; as, a slit in the ear.
Collocations (1)
Gill slit (Anatomy) , See Gill opening, under Gill.