slasher

noun

1. One who slashes.
2. A machine for applying size to warp yarns.
3. (informal)A horror movie with graphic blood and violence; a slasher movie.

   “Realizing there was a fresh market for a style of movie that studios had written off as niche material, Scream’s gonzo profits ushered in a wave of subsequent slashers trying to capitalize on a new generation’s discovery of the subgenre, as Gen Xers and Gen Yers alike learned (or re-learned) the fundamental pleasures of a good old-fashioned murder spree by a crazed killer, supernatural or otherwise.”

4. A murderer in such a film.
5. One who self-injures by cutting.

   “[…] an overdoser, binge drinker, slasher, or sexually impulsive person, is found to act impulsively following some sort of change in a relationship.”

6. A tool for cutting undergrowth.
7. (slang)One who writes slash fiction and/or supports male/male ships.

   “With the success of the first film and the third one already in production, Warner Bros. is more likely to greet Harry Potter slashers with more takedown orders than tolerance.”

   “The same aspects that made buddy shows attractive to relationship-oriented fans also made them attractive to slashers; the fact that these shows were set in an era of tight jeans and unbuttoned shirts, and of the loosening of formerly strict standards of acceptable male behavior, only provided additional evidence for homoerotic interpretation.”

   “In other words denied their own voice by a conservative misogynist culture, the original female slashers and vidders needed male characters as surrogates to express their own identity and desires.”

8. (UK, historical, slang)A member of the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot.