definitions

cut adrift

Separated or detached; freed. For example, The dissenters were cut adrift from the denomination. This expression alludes to cutting the rope of a floating vessel so that it drifts without direction or purpose. The figurative use of adrift dates from the late 1600s.

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Nearby words

cut a deal, cut a long story short, cut a wide swath, cut above, cut across, cut adrift, cut along, cut and dried, cut and fill, cut and paste, cut and run
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.