cut out

verb

1. (tr) to delete or remove

2. (tr) to shape or form by cutting

   to cut out a dress

3. (tr; usually passive) to suit or equip for

   you're not cut out for this job

4. (intr) (of an engine, etc) to cease to operate suddenly

5. (tr) printing to remove the background from a photograph or drawing to make the outline of the subject stand out

6. (intr) (of an electrical device) to switch off, usually automatically

7. informal,  (tr) to oust and supplant (a rival)

8. (intr) (of a person) to be excluded from a card game

9. informal,  (tr) to cease doing something, esp something undesirable (esp in the phrase cut it out )

10. (tr) soccer to intercept (a pass)

11. (tr) to separate (cattle) from a herd

12. (intr) to end or finish

    the road cuts out at the creek

13. to have as much work as one can manage

noun

1. something that has been or is intended to be cut out from something else

2. a photograph or drawing from which the background has been cut away

3. a device that switches off or interrupts an electric circuit, esp a switch acting as a safety device

4. an impressed stamp cut out from an envelope for collecting purposes

5. slang,  the end of shearing

Idioms and Phrases

Excise, remove as if by cutting; also, form or shape as if by cutting or carving. For example, Young children love cutting out pictures from magazines , or The first step is cutting out the dress pattern . The first usage dates from about 1400, the second from the mid-1500s.

Oust, replace, or supplant someone, as in He cut out all her other boyfriends . [Mid-1600s]

Also, cut out for . Suited or fitted by nature, as in Dean's not cut out for lexicography . [Mid-1600s]

Also, cut out for . Assigned beforehand, prepared, predetermined, as in We have our work cut out for us . [Early 1600s]

Deprive, as in He cut her out of his will . [Early 1800s]

Stop, cease, as in He cut out the motor , or Cut out that noise! [c. 1900] Also see cut it out .

Leave, especially in a hurry; also, run away. For example, I'm cutting out right now , or At the first hint of a police raid they cut out . [ Slang ; first half of 1800s] Also see cut and run ; cut the comedy .

Example Sentences

The billionaires absolutely expect to be fed — or say they do, but cut out before dinner is done.

Read more on Salon

Instead, the conservative majority just provides drafts of its decisions to the two Democratic justices; if conservative justices oppose Newby, sometimes they are cut out, too.

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Rodriguez, the Venezuelan vice president, has been working with China to cut out intermediaries and allow the oil to reach Asia directly.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

When Jemimah Rodrigues was trying to force herself into the India women's side as a teenager, she cut out a photograph of her face and stuck it over an image of the national team's jersey.

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The grand hall on the first floor, which serves as the museum’s formal hub, is a triple-height space, nearly 40 feet high, whose corners are cut out to offer views into the galleries above.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• carve 
• delete 
• eliminate 
• extract 
• pull out 
• sever