slash-and-burn
adjective
1
: characterized or developed by felling and burning trees to clear land especially for temporary agriculture
2
: extremely ruthless and unsparing
slash-and-burn tactics
slash-and-burn criticism
Synonyms
- affectless
- callous
- case-hardened
- cold-blooded
- compassionless
- desensitized
- hard
- hard-boiled
- hard-hearted
- heartless
- indurate
- inhuman
- inhumane
- insensate
- insensitive
- ironhearted
- merciless
- obdurate
- pachydermatous
- pitiless
- remorseless
- ruthless
- soulless
- stony
- stoney
- stonyhearted
- take-no-prisoners
- thick-skinned
- uncharitable
- unfeeling
- unmerciful
- unsparing
- unsympathetic
Examples of slash-and-burn in a Sentence
under his slash-and-burn management ethic, even longtime employees were summarily downsized for the sake of corporate competitiveness
Recent Examples on the Web
Venture Capital Also Got The Memo An unlikely follower of the value-creation philosophy is a sector previously known or its ruthless slash-and-burn tactics: venture capital.
—
Steve Denning, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024
The tech-first, slash-and-burn approach rarely works.
—Kirill Vladimirovich, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
Back then, many voters found Trump's slash-and-burn style to be refreshing, novel, and direct; eight years later, analysts say, Trump's aggressive attacks come across as mean, repetitive, and out-of-touch.
—David Jackson, USA TODAY, 10 Aug. 2024
Bowman went for the predictable slash-and-burn negatives.
—Rich Orsillo, New York Daily News, 8 Aug. 2024
But House Republicans’ choice to repeatedly push such proposals highlights their slash-and-burn approach to federal spending, and why Congress is facing such a steep challenge reaching a longer-term deal to fund the government.
—Robert Jimison, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2023
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After four years of the Trump administration’s slash-and-burn approach to democracy at home and abroad, U.S. President Joe Biden’s focus on reviving U.S. leadership on global democracy represents a breath of fresh air.
—Frances Z. Brown, Foreign Affairs, 23 July 2021
The farmers who worked the surrounding land used slash-and-burn methods, and railroad companies set fires to clear ground for their tracks.
—Elisa Neckar, Discover Magazine, 13 Sep. 2023
With a healthy dose of wit and wisdom, soul-baring honesty and a riffing style that invokes his slash-and-burn guitar playing, Mud Ride offers something for record-collecting music geeks, skateboarder punk crews, grunge history heads, Nirvana and Pearl Jam fans, and Mudhoney buffs alike.
—Brad Cohan, SPIN, 13 June 2023
Steve Denning, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024
The tech-first, slash-and-burn approach rarely works.
—Kirill Vladimirovich, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
Back then, many voters found Trump's slash-and-burn style to be refreshing, novel, and direct; eight years later, analysts say, Trump's aggressive attacks come across as mean, repetitive, and out-of-touch.
—David Jackson, USA TODAY, 10 Aug. 2024
Bowman went for the predictable slash-and-burn negatives.
—Rich Orsillo, New York Daily News, 8 Aug. 2024
But House Republicans’ choice to repeatedly push such proposals highlights their slash-and-burn approach to federal spending, and why Congress is facing such a steep challenge reaching a longer-term deal to fund the government.
—Robert Jimison, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2023
Get a link Page url Get Citation Request Reprint Permissions
Download Article
After four years of the Trump administration’s slash-and-burn approach to democracy at home and abroad, U.S. President Joe Biden’s focus on reviving U.S. leadership on global democracy represents a breath of fresh air.
—Frances Z. Brown, Foreign Affairs, 23 July 2021
The farmers who worked the surrounding land used slash-and-burn methods, and railroad companies set fires to clear ground for their tracks.
—Elisa Neckar, Discover Magazine, 13 Sep. 2023
With a healthy dose of wit and wisdom, soul-baring honesty and a riffing style that invokes his slash-and-burn guitar playing, Mud Ride offers something for record-collecting music geeks, skateboarder punk crews, grunge history heads, Nirvana and Pearl Jam fans, and Mudhoney buffs alike.
—Brad Cohan, SPIN, 13 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slash-and-burn.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near slash-and-burn
Cite this Entry
“Slash-and-burn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slash-and-burn. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
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