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• cut-and-paste
  cut-and-paste

  adjective

  assembled or produced from various existing bits and pieces.
• cut and paste
  cut and paste

  noun

  a technique used in word processing by which a section of text can be moved within a document

cut-and-paste

American  

[kuht-n-payst] / ˈkʌt nˈpeɪst /

adjective

1. assembled or produced from various existing bits and pieces.

   The book purports to be a history but is just a cut-and-paste job of old essays and newspaper clippings.

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cut and paste British  

noun

1. a technique used in word processing by which a section of text can be moved within a document

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cut and paste Idioms  

1. Describing a patched-up job or trivial work. For example, The revision was easy, just cut and paste, or The new assistant had expected some training, but all she got was cut and paste. This term alludes to simple artwork done by small children—cutting out pictures and gluing them to paper. [Mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cut-and-paste cut and paste

"We need to be able to ensure that we're not talking about cut-and-paste action plans, but we can demonstrate that action has been taken and that recommendations are implemented."

From BBC ● May 13, 2025

The blogger, 32-year-old Sholto David, of Pontypridd, Wales, is a scientist-sleuth who detects cut-and-paste image manipulation in published scientific papers.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2024

The awkward, halting sentences, inexplicably joined together, reminded me of first year English Composition, catching a student in obvious, cut-and-paste plagiarism.

From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2023

Many of the initial complaints were directed at Sellars, whose libretto is a cut-and-paste job of source material from the 1850s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2023

Analysts noted they were largely cut-and-paste versions of European Union deals, but she reaped the publicity.

From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2022

"The DUP had set out a 30-hours free childcare promise but that doesn't mean it's a cut and paste from the English system," she said.

From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2024

I would literally cut and paste stuff and print it off and would carry that.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2023

Calls and chats all included an apology and a cut and paste that I should be rest assured they were diligently working on it.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2023

He often brought work home, using an X-Acto knife and rubber cement to cut and paste layouts, decades before I'd learn to do so on a Mac.

From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2022

Practice pieces made of soft and easy to work material, like balsam wood, also serve the purpose of providing an actual mock up that can be quickly modified by cut and paste methods.

From Sequential Problem Solving A Student Handbook with Checklists for Successful Critical Thinking by Fredric Lozo

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