cut up

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

noun

1. informal,  a joker or prankster

Idioms and Phrases

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

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

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.”

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

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]

Example Sentences

When he was growing up, he told them, the matador killed the bull, whose body was cut up and sold to spectators.

From Los Angeles Times

I wasn’t sure if he had cut up his whole face or whatever.

From Los Angeles Times

A post-mortem of the giraffe - during which the carcass was skinned, cut up and then fed to the lions - was broadcast live online.

From BBC

Last week, JLR announced it was cutting up to 500 management jobs in the UK amid ongoing pressure on its sales from tariffs.

From BBC

The dispute is over the university's proposals to cut up to 285 staff across a number of areas, including the Lincoln International Business School and the history department.

From BBC