cutter

[ kuht-er ]

/ ˈkʌt ər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cutter ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who cuts, especially as a job, as one who cuts fabric for garments.

a machine, tool, or other device for cutting.

Nautical.

a single-masted sailing vessel, very similar to a sloop but having its mast set somewhat farther astern, about two-fifths of the way aft measured on the water line.
a ship's boat having double-banked oars and one or two lugsails.

Also called revenue cutter. a lightly armed government vessel used to prevent smuggling and enforce the customs regulations.

a person who repeatedly inflicts self-injury by cutting the skin, as to cope with negative emotions.

a person employed as a film editor.

a small, light sleigh, usually single-seated and pulled by one horse.

Also called rubber. a brick suitable for cutting and rubbing.

(in U.S. government grading of beef)

a low-quality grade of beef between utility and canner.
beef of this grade, mostly used in processed beef products, as sausage.

cut fastball.

adjective

(in U.S. government grading of beef) graded between utility and canner.

Nearby words

Origin of cutter

First recorded in 1375–1425, cutter is from the Middle English word kittere, cuttere. See cut, -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cutter

Then Cutter Laboratories in Berkeley, California, made a bad batch of vaccine, and 40,000 children were sickened with polio.
How Presidents Handle Pandemics|Eleanor Clift|October 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The job—feeding massive paper reams into a cutter—paid 10 cents above minimum wage.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial|Ivan Solotaroff|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The cutter does not need all the sizes because they can grade it without a pattern for each size.
The Last "Real" Couture House|Liza Foreman|March 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Cutter became a media star and dispatched the utterly unfair blame leveled at her during the 2004 Kerry effort.
Bob Shrum’s Winners & Losers of 2012|Robert Shrum|December 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Responding to Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski, Cutter then tweeted this gem: Update at 8:01 PM: Romney responds.
Updated: Obama Flack Stephanie Cutter Says Libyan Consulate Murders Only an Issue "Because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan"|Justin Green|October 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The cutter sails down the river and out through the Heads into the open sea.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)|William Delisle Hay
The fleet was already on the high seas when a cutter brought the government's last instructions to Rochambeau.
With Americans of Past and Present Days|J. J. Jusserand
The cutter had disappeared, and we did not see her again until we came to our anchorage in China Straits.
Two Years Among the Savages of New Guinea.|W. D. Pitcairn
Although Mr. Cutter was absent the dancing contingent was ably represented, and a delightful evening was enjoyed.
Papers and Proceedings of the Twenty-Third General Meeting of the American Library Association|Various
Tom and Jack were the only ones of all the crew of the cutter that were cast alive on the island.
Within the Capes|Howard Pyle

British Dictionary definitions for cutter

cutter

/ (ˈkʌtə) /

noun

a person or thing that cuts, esp a person who cuts cloth for clothing

a sailing boat with its mast stepped further aft so as to have a larger foretriangle than that of a sloop

a ship's boat, powered by oars or sail, for carrying passengers or light cargo

a small lightly armed boat, as used in the enforcement of customs regulations

a pig weighing between 68 and 82 kg, from which fillets and larger joints are cut

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

Word Origin and History for cutter

cutter

late 12c., "one who cuts" in any sense, agent noun from cut (v.). As a type of small, single-masted vessel, from 1762, earlier "boat belonging to a ship of war" (1745), perhaps so called from the notion of "cutting" through the water.

cutter

noun

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of cutter

Examples from the Web for cutter

British Dictionary definitions for cutter

cutter

noun

Word Origin and History for cutter

cutter