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cutback

[ kuht-bak ]
/ ˈkʌtˌbæk /
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noun

a reduction in rate, quantity, etc.: a cutback in production.
a return in the course of a story, motion picture, etc., to earlier events.
Football. a play in which the ball-carrier abruptly reverses direction, especially by starting to make an end run and then turning suddenly to run toward the middle of the line.
a maneuver in surfing of heading the surfboard back toward a wave's crest.

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Question 1 of 7
Let’s start with some etymology: What are the origins of the typographical word “bracket”?
First appeared around 1750, and is related to the French word “braguette” for the name of codpiece armor.
First appeared in 1610, based on the French word “baguette” for the long loaf of bread.
First appeared in 1555, and is related to the French word “raquette” for a netted bat.
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Origin of cutback

First recorded in 1895–1900; noun use of verb phrase cut back

Words nearby cutback

cutaneous vasculitis, cutaneous vein, cutaway, cutaway dive, cut a wide swath, cutback, cutbank, cut both ways, cut capers, cut-card work, cutch
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to cutback

decline, reduction, reversal, belt-tightening, lowering, lessening, abatement, curtailment, decrement, economy

Example sentences from the Web for cutback

British Dictionary definitions for cutback

cutback
/ (ˈkʌtˌbæk) /

noun

a decrease or reduction
another word (esp US) for flashback

verb cut back (adverb)

(tr) to shorten by cutting off the end; prune
(when intr, foll by on) to reduce or make a reduction (in)
(intr) mainly US (in films) to show an event that took place earlier in the narrative; flash back
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with cutback

cut back
1

Shorten by cutting, prune, as in It's time we cut back these bushes. [1860s]

2

Reduce, decrease, as in They are going to cut back defense spending, or We have to cut back production. [c. 1940] Also see cut to the bone.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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