First recorded in 1935–40
First recorded in 1965–70
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Davis further objected to music producer David Foster’s insistence on an elaborate backing remix for the song, having fallen in love with the first rough cut, which had been recorded live on set.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
He’s seen the movie only twice; once in a rough cut and then again on an airplane.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2025
So the week before, or two weeks before, we had shown a rough cut to Raney Aronson.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2024
That’s also what Disney executives asked with concern about the idiosyncratic stop-motion animation musical when they saw a rough cut.
From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
“Which I doubt;” His voice was oddly and beautifully rough cut, as some small boys’ voices are.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
The rough-cut sandstone church, with its bright red doors and stained-glass windows, was built in 1904 to house the state’s oldest Methodist congregation, and occupies a prominent corner lot a few blocks north of downtown.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2023
And after a rough-cut screening of Zoe’s movie for family and friends, this heartfelt tale takes a few sharp turns that make all involved question or reexamine their beliefs.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2023
It’s made of thin flakes of wood layered and glued together, topped by a thin laminate textured to resemble T1-11 plywood, which resembles rough-cut boards aligned vertically, side by side.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 6, 2022
Meanwhile, Mr. Zucker’s CNN is taking TV news in the other direction, toward reality television and Instagram, winning trust through the projection of a rough-cut realness.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2020
Oriana looks like a rose in bloom beside him, wearing a massive necklace of rough-cut green emeralds at her throat, large enough to nearly count as armor.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
