to penetrate with or as if with a sharp-edged instrument or object: He cut his finger.
to divide with or as if with a sharp-edged instrument; sever; carve: to cut a rope.
to detach with or as if with a sharp-edged instrument; separate from the main body; lop off: to cut a slice from a loaf of bread.
to hew or saw down; fell: to cut timber.
to trim by clipping, shearing, paring, or pruning: to cut hair.
to mow; reap; harvest: to cut grain.
to abridge or shorten; edit by omitting a part or parts: to cut a speech.
to repeatedly inflict injury on (oneself) by deliberately cutting the skin, as to cope with stress or negative emotions: Some teenagers cut themselves to stop their emotional pain.
to lower, reduce, diminish, or curtail (sometimes followed by down): to cut prices.
to dilute; make less thick: to cut wine.
to dissolve: That detergent cuts grease effectively.
to intersect; cross: One line cuts another at right angles.
Informal. to cease; discontinue (often followed by out): Cut the kidding. Let's cut out the pretense.
to stop; halt the running of, as a liquid or an engine (often followed by off): The pilot cut the engines and glided in for a landing. Cut off the hot water.
to dilute or adulterate (a drug) by mixing it with other substances.
to grow (a tooth or teeth) through the gum: The baby is cutting his teeth.
to type, write, or draw on (a stencil) for mimeographing.
to make or fashion by cutting, as a statue, jewel, or garment.
Glassmaking. to produce a pattern (in glass) by grinding and polishing.
to refuse to recognize socially; shun ostentatiously: Her friends began to cut her as the season progressed.
to strike sharply, as with a whip.
to absent oneself from: allowed to cut three classes per semester.
Movies, Television.
to stop (a scene or shot being filmed).
to edit (a film).
Computers. to remove (selected text, images, etc.) from a file to store in temporary memory until pasted elsewhere.Compare copy(def 15), paste(def 13).
to wound the feelings of severely.
Cards.
to divide (a pack of cards) at random into two or more parts, by removing cards from the top.
to take (a card) from a deck.
to record a selection on (a phonograph record or tape); make a recording of.
to castrate or geld.
Sports. to hit (a ball) with either the hand or some instrument so as to change its course and often to cause it to spin.
to hollow out; excavate; dig: to cut a trench.
Cricket. to strike and send off (a ball) in front of the batsman, and parallel to the wicket.
Slang. to be a nonplaying dealer, manager, or supervisor of (a card game, crap game, or other gambling game) in return for a percentage of the money bet or sometimes for a fee.
verb (used without object),cut,cut·ting.
to penetrate or divide something, as with a sharp-edged instrument; make an incision: The scissors cut well.
to admit of being cut: Butter cuts easily.
to repeatedly inflict self-injury by deliberately cutting the skin.
to pass, go, or come, especially in the most direct way (usually followed by across, through, in, etc.): to cut across an empty lot.
Movies, Television.
to shift suddenly from one shot to another: Cut to the barroom interior.
to stop the action of a scene: used as a command by a director.
to make a sudden or sharp turn in direction; change direction suddenly; swerve: We cut to the left to avoid hitting the child.
to strike a person, animal, etc., sharply, as with a whip.
to wound the feelings severely: His criticism cut deep.
(of the teeth) to grow through the gums.
Computers. to remove selected text, images, etc., from a file for storage in temporary memory until pasted elsewhere.Compare copy(def 17), paste(def 14).
Cards. to cut the cards.
Informal. to leave hastily: to cut for the hills.
(of a horse) to interfere.
adjective
that has been subjected to cutting; divided into pieces by cutting; detached by cutting: cut flowers.
fashioned by cutting; having the surface shaped or ornamented by grinding, polishing, or the like: cut diamonds.
reduced by or as if by cutting: cut whiskey; cut prices.
cut out for, fitted for; capable of: He wasn't cut out for military service.
Origin of cut
1175–1225;Middle Englishcutten, kytten, kitten,Old English*cyttan; akin to Old Swedishkotta to cut, Old Norsekuti little knife
Related formshalf-cut, adjectivemis·cut, verb,mis·cut,mis·cut·ting.out·cut, verb (used with object),out·cut,out·cut·ting.re·cut, verb,re·cut,re·cut·ting.well-cut, adjective
2. Cut,chop,hack,hew refer to giving a sharp blow or stroke. Cut is a general word for this: to cut the grass. To chop is to cut by giving repeated blows with something sharp, as an ax. To chop and to hew are practically interchangeable, but hew suggests keeping to a definite purpose: to chop or hew down a tree; to hew out a clearing. To hack is to cut or chop roughly and unevenly: to hack off a limb.
a method of vegetative propagation in which a part of a plant, such as a stem or leaf, is induced to form its own roots
a part separated for this purpose
Also called (esp US and Canadian): clippingan article, photograph, etc, cut from a newspaper or other publication
the editing process by which a film is cut and made
an excavation in a piece of high land for a road, railway, etc, enabling it to remain at approximately the same level
Irishinformalsharp-wittednessthere is no cutting in him
(modifier)designed for or adapted to cutting; edged; sharpa cutting tool
adjective
keen; piercinga cutting wind
tending to hurt the feelingsa cutting remark
Derived Formscuttingly, adverb
cut
verbcuts, cuttingorcut
to open up or incise (a person or thing) with a sharp edge or instrument; gash
(of a sharp instrument) to penetrate or incise (a person or thing)
to divide or be divided with or as if with a sharp instrumentcut a slice of bread
(intr)to use a sharp-edged instrument or an instrument that cuts
(tr)to trim or prune by or as if by clippingto cut hair
(tr)to reap or mow (a crop, grass, etc)
(tr)to geld or castrate
(tr sometimes foll by out) to make, form, or shape by cuttingto cut a suit
(tr)to hollow or dig out; excavateto cut a tunnel through the mountain
to strike (an object) sharply
(tr)sportto hit (a ball) with a downward slicing stroke so as to impart spin or cause it to fall short
cricketto hit (the ball) to the off side, usually between cover and third man, with a roughly horizontal bat
to hurt or wound the feelings of (a person), esp by malicious speech or action
(tr)informalto refuse to recognize; snub
(tr)informalto absent oneself from (an activity, location, etc), esp without permission or in hasteto cut class
(tr)to abridge, shorten, or edit by excising a part or parts
(tr often foll by down) to lower, reduce, or curtailto cut losses
(tr)to dilute or weakenheroin that was cut with nontoxic elements
(tr)to dissolve or break upto cut fat
(when intr, foll by across or through) to cross or traversethe footpath cuts through the field
(intr)to make a sharp or sudden change in direction; veer
to grow (teeth) through the gums or (of teeth) to appear through the gums
(intr)films
to call a halt to a shooting sequence
(foll by to)to move quickly to another scene
filmsto edit (film)
(tr)to switch off (a light, car engine, etc)
(tr)(of a performer, recording company, etc) to make (a record or tape of a song, concert, performance, etc)
cards
to divide (the pack) at random into two parts after shuffling
(intr)to pick cards from a spread pack to decide dealer, partners, etc
(tr)to remove (material) from an object by means of a chisel, lathe, etc
(tr)(of a tool) to bite into (an object)
(intr)(of a horse) to injure the leg just above the hoof by a blow from the opposite foot
cut a caperorcut capers
to skip or jump playfully
to act or behave playfully; frolic
cut both ways
to have both good and bad effects
to affect both sides of something, as two parties in an argument, etc
cut a dashto behave or dress showily or strikingly; make a stylish impression
cut a person deadinformalto ignore a person completely
cut a good figureto appear or behave well
cut a poor figureto appear or behave badly
cut and runinformalto make a rapid escape
cut itslangbe successful in doing something
cut it fineinformalto allow little margin of time, space, etc
cut cornersto do something in the easiest or shortest way, esp at the expense of high standardswe could finish this project early only if we cut corners
cut looseto free or become freed from restraint, custody, anchorage, etc
cut no iceinformalto fail to make an impression
cut one's lossesto give up spending time, money, or energy on an unprofitable or unsuccessful activity
cut one's teeth oninformal
to use at an early age or stage
to practise on
adjective
detached, divided, or separated by cutting
botanyincised or dividedcut leaves
made, shaped, or fashioned by cutting
reduced or diminished by or as if by cuttingcut prices
cricketa stroke made with the bat in a roughly horizontal position
filmsan immediate transition from one shot to the next, brought about by splicing the two shots together
informalan individual piece of music on a record; track
words or an action that hurt another person's feelings
a refusal to recognize an acquaintance; snub
informal, mainlyUSan unauthorized absence, esp from a school class
chema fraction obtained in distillation, as in oil refining
the metal removed in a single pass of a machine tool
the shape of the teeth of a file
their coarseness or fineness
Britisha stretch of water, esp a canal
a cut aboveinformalsuperior (to); better (than)
make the cutgolfto better or equal the required score after two rounds in a strokeplay tournament, thus avoiding elimination from the final two rounds
miss the cutgolfto achieve a greater score after the first two rounds of a strokeplay tournament than that required to play in the remaining two rounds
1520s, "gash, incision," from cut (v.); meaning "piece cut off" is from 1590s; sense of "a wounding sarcasm" is from 1560s.
cut
v.
late 13c., possibly Scandinavian, from North Germanic *kut- (cf. Swedish dialectal kuta "to cut," kuta "knife," Old Norse kuti "knife"), or from Old French couteau "knife." Replaced Old English ceorfan (see carve (v.)), sniþan, and scieran (see shear). Meaning "to be absent without excuse" is British university slang from 1794. To cut a pack of cards is from 1590s. Related: Cutting.
