cutoff

American  

[kuht-awf, -of] / ˈkʌtˌɔf, -ˌɒf /

noun

1. an act or instance of cutting off.

2. something that cuts off.

3. a road, passage, etc., that leaves another, usually providing a shortcut.

   Let's take the cutoff to Baltimore.

4. a new and shorter channel formed in a river by the water cutting across a bend in its course.

5. a point, time, or stage serving as the limit beyond which something is no longer effective, applicable, or possible.

6. cutoffs, Also cut-offs shorts made by cutting the legs off a pair of trousers, especially jeans, above the knees and often leaving the cut edges ragged.

7. Accounting. a selected point at which records are considered complete for the purpose of settling accounts, taking inventory, etc.

8. Baseball. an infielder's interception of a ball thrown from the outfield in order to relay it to home plate or keep a base runner from advancing.

9. Machinery. arrest of the steam moving the pistons of an engine, usually occurring before the completion of a stroke.

10. Electronics. (in a vacuum tube) the minimum grid potential preventing an anode current.

11. Rocketry. the termination of propulsion, either by shutting off the propellant flow or by stopping the combustion of the propellant.

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adjective

1. being or constituting the limit or ending.

   a cutoff date for making changes.

Etymology

Origin of cutoff

First recorded in 1735–45; noun use of verb phrase cut off

Example Sentences

Most companies that use a GPA cutoff in hiring say they believe it is at least somewhat helpful, according to survey data from Veris Insights, which analyzes hiring trends.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

At main engine cutoff, when the RS-25 engines shut down, the spacecraft was traveling at more than 18,000 miles per hour and reached its intended orbital insertion point with high precision.

From Science Daily • May 4, 2026

Trivariate didn’t say what payout ratio served as the cutoff for the bottom fifth.

From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026

Two-thirds of children who were held back had summer birthdays between June and August — near the kindergarten enrollment cutoff dates in most states — and would have been young for their grade.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

I mean, I had traded running in my jeans for a pair of cutoff scrubs I got from my mom, but that was like running in a pair of drawers!

From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds