cutout
Americannoun
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cutouts
plural
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something cut out from something else, as a pattern or figure cut out or intended to be cut out of paper, cardboard, or other material.
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a valve in the exhaust pipe of an internal-combustion engine, which when open permits the engine to exhaust directly into the air ahead of the muffler.
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an act or instance of cutting out.
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Slang. a trusted intermediary between two espionage agents or agencies.
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Electricity. a device for the manual or automatic interruption of electric current.
Usage
What is a cutout? A cutout is something that is cut from something else, such as an image of a celebrity printed on a large sheet of cardboard with all the unprinted cardboard cut away. To cut out is to shape or form by cutting. The result is a cutout, as in When Darby made the wooden dollhouse, he made sure to include square cutouts in the walls to represent windows. In electrical engineering, a cutout is a device that interrupts the electrical current to a device, such as a lamp. Example: There was a cutout of the celebrity outside the theater on opening weekend.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cutout
First recorded in 1790–1800; noun use of verb phrase cut out
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They propped up a cardboard cutout of Aaron Smith-Levin, a former church member and anti-Scientology protester who was convicted by a jury of misdemeanor battery involving a Scientology staff member.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
The paper offers a free mask cutout of Burnham's face.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Patni commemorated Akash with a framed photograph and a life-size cutout, decorated with flowers and surrounded by scattered rose petals and lit lamps.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Her final garment is a three-piece set combining a lycra sports bra with a mesh cutout, a layered lace tennis skirt and a cropped sherpa jacket.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026
About twenty feet inside the doorway, a life-size wooden cutout of a gladiator popped up from the floor.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
At the Hidden Valley headquarters in Oakland, Calif., members of the ranch team often huddle around a pizza-shaped couch, surrounded by ranch poster-covered walls, a ranch piñata and giant cutouts of bottles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Embassy event marking America’s 250th anniversary, which featured life-size cutouts of Trump officials for photo takers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
They’re not cardboard cutouts, exactly, but they’re blank enough slates for us to project onto.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2026
There’s no bad sightline in the space, from either the ground floor or upper level balcony, which looks out over a stage wreathed in pink neon and wood cutouts evoking the industrial cityscape outside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2026
The arch-topped windows of the dormitories showed like yellow cutouts.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
