cutback

[kuht-bak]

noun

1. a reduction in rate, quantity, etc..

   a cutback in production.

2. a return in the course of a story, motion picture, etc., to earlier events.

3. 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.

4. a maneuver in surfing of heading the surfboard back toward a wave's crest.

cutback

/ ˈkʌtˌbæk /

noun

1. a decrease or reduction

2. another word (esp US) for flashback

verb

1. (tr) to shorten by cutting off the end; prune

2. to reduce or make a reduction (in)

3. (intr) (in films) to show an event that took place earlier in the narrative; flash back

Word History and Origins

Origin of cutback¹

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

Example Sentences

Any abrupt cutback of Russian oil could lead to inflation, political instability and budget problems.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The president has repeatedly emphasized that he views cutbacks as a way of increasing pain on Democrats.

Read more on Barron's

Complaints on Russian social media about cutbacks to bus routes and bare store shelves, while unverified, are becoming more prevalent.

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But private air travel has survived—nay, soared—amid other cutbacks.

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When you couple Medicaid cutbacks with the potential expiration of Affordable Care Act expanded subsidies, especially in states such as Texas and Florida, publicly traded hospital companies will face challenges to continued growth.

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Related Words

• belt-tightening 
• decline 
• reduction 
• reversal