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

The company reportedly plans to cut up to 20% of its workforce, which Nowak estimated could save between $3 billion and $10 billion annually, and increase earnings per share by over $1 in 2027.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

For little fifth-grade me, watching videos of jerkers cut up on the bus and get off at the mall made me excited to inherit the city, because it was clear it belonged to the youth.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

JLR went as far as halting exports of its cars to the United States in April -- and later announced plans to cut up to 500 UK management jobs.

From Barron's • Nov. 28, 2025

Amazon announced Tuesday that it was laying off thousands of workers, kick-starting a plan to cut up to 30,000 jobs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

She nod and use her knife to cut up the tomato.

From "Girls Like Us" by Gail Giles