cut up

British  

verb

1. to cut into pieces

2. to inflict injuries on

3. informal (usually passive) to affect the feelings of deeply

4. informal to subject to severe criticism

5. informal (of a driver) to overtake or pull in front of (another driver) in a dangerous manner

6. informal to become angry or bad-tempered

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noun

1. informal a joker or prankster

cut up Idioms  

1. Divide into smaller parts, break the continuity of, as in These meetings have cut up my whole day . [c. 1800]

2. Severely censure or criticize, as in The reviewer cut up the book mercilessly . [Mid-1700s]

3. be cut up . Be distressed or saddened, as in I was terribly cut up when she left . [Mid-1800s] Charles Dickens used this idiom in A Christmas Carol (1844): “Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event.”

4. Behave in a playful, comic, or boisterous way, as in On the last night of camp the children usually cut up . [Late 1800s]

5. cut up rough . Act in a rowdy, angry, or violent way, as in After a beer or two the boys began to cut up rough . [ Slang ; first half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cut up

He announced plans to cut up to 16% of the company’s 55,000 employees, yielding $1 billion in cost cuts, and increase its stock buybacks by billions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

If you have $35,000 in credit-card debt, not only should you cut up your cards, you should take the pieces and burn them on a pyre and vow never to make this mistake again.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

The chief executive of the German car giant Volkswagen Group has confirmed it is looking to cut up to 100,000 jobs – twice as many as previously stated.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Everything is cut up and put together through chance operations into what Cage called a Musicircus.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

She even cut up the best fruits: strawberries, honeydew, and pineapple.

From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle