cutback

[ kuht-bak ]

/ ˈkʌtˌbæk /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for cutback on Thesaurus.com

Definition of cutback

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.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of cutback

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

Words nearby cutback

cutaneous, cutaneous quittor, 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. 2022

How to use cutback in a sentence

Indeed, city leaders recently asked city departments to outline cutbacks that could help close the city’s massive budget gap.
Morning Report: Law Enforcement Is Spending on ‘Predictive Policing’|Voice of San Diego|February 2, 2021|Voice of San Diego
More than 60 local newsrooms shuttered over the course of 2020, while others have endured layoffs, furloughs and other cutbacks, according to journalism research organization Poynter.
COVID-19 Is Ravaging Local Newspapers, Making it Easier for Misinformation to Spread|Tara Law|January 22, 2021|Time
He suspects that the company’s warning to employees could merely serve as a pretext for further cutbacks at Cumulus’s many stations.
On conservative talk radio, efforts to tone down inflammatory rhetoric appear limited|Paul Farhi|January 20, 2021|Washington Post
Potential cutbacks will soon officially be on the table as the city stares down a projected $124 million deficit for the upcoming budget year.
City Leaders Warn Departments: Start Looking for Cuts|Lisa Halverstadt|January 12, 2021|Voice of San Diego

This year, that may be even more the case if advertisers may have more than the usual amount of money carrying over from cutbacks in the spring and summer.
‘Our biggest quarter ever’: Publishers’ ad businesses are rebounding into the end of the year — for now|Tim Peterson|November 4, 2020|Digiday
I'm not sure how some lower-end retail workers are going to survive the cutback.
Counting Full Time Employees|Megan McArdle|January 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In my view, this small cutback on the president's power will not prove that consequential.
The Supreme Court Ruling on Obamacare: 16 Experts Weigh in|Matthew DeLuca|June 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In the throes of cutback after cutback, the content being presented is suffering.
The Media Can Profit from Twitter's Big Week|Larry Kramer|June 17, 2009|DAILY BEAST
I always thought S'Bucks was a ripoff anyway, so that's a cutback that I really don't mind at all.
The Bag Lady Papers, Part IV|Alexandra Penney|January 14, 2009|DAILY BEAST

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with cutback

cut back

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

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.

cutback

Definition of cutback

Origin of cutback

Words nearby cutback

Words related to cutback

How to use cutback in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cutback

Other Idioms and Phrases with cutback