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- Dictionarycut/kʌt/
verb
- 1. make an opening, incision, or wound in (something) with a sharp-edged tool or object: "he cut his toe on a sharp stone" Similar gashslashlacerateslitpiercepenetratewoundinjurescratchgrazenicksnicknotchincisescorelance
- ▪ make a deliberate incision in (one's flesh), as a symptom of psychological or emotional distress: "I started cutting myself when I was about 14 and continued for four years"
- ▪ castrate (an animal, especially a horse).
- ▪ circumcise (a boy or man).
- 2. divide into pieces with a knife or other sharp implement: "cut the beef into thin slices" Similar chopcut upslicedicecubemincecarvedividehash
- ▪ make divisions in (something): "the country was cut into three parts"
- ▪ separate (something) into two pieces; sever: "they cut the rope before he choked" Similar severcleavecut in twoliterary:rendarchaic:sunderrare:dissever
- ▪ remove (something) from something larger by using a sharp implement: "bacon was cut from the joints that hung from the ceiling" Similar trimsnipclipcropbobbarbershearshavepareprunepollardpolllopdockmowpickpluckgatherharvestreapliterary:garnercull
- 3. make or form (something) by using a sharp tool to remove material: "workmen cut a hole in the pipe"
- ▪ make or design (a garment) in a particular way: "Madame Vionnet was the first to cut a dress on the bias, in 1927"
- ▪ make (a path, tunnel, or other route) by excavation, digging, or chopping: "it took engineers a dozen years and the federal government $500 million to cut a road through the canyon"
- ▪ produce (a vinyl record) from a sound recording: "quadraphonic LPs had to be cut at a lower volume level than conventional records" Similar recordmake a recording ofput on disc/tapemake a tape oftape-recordinformal:lay down
- 4. trim or reduce the length of (grass, hair, etc.) by using a sharp implement: "Ted was cutting the lawn" Similar trimsnipclipcropbobbarbershearshavepareprunepollardpolllopdockmow
- 5. reduce the size, amount, or quantity of: "buyers will bargain hard to cut the cost of the house they want" Similar reducecut back/down ondecreaselessenretrenchdiminishtrimpruneslim downease up onrationalizedownsizeslenderizeeconomize onmark downdiscountlowerinformal:slashaxeOpposite increase
- ▪ shorten (a text, film, or performance) by removing material: "he had to cut unnecessary additions made to the opening scene" Similar shortenabridgecondenseabbreviatetruncatepare downeditprecissummarizesynopsizebowdlerizeexpurgaterare:epitomizedeleteremovetake outedit outexciseblue-pencilOpposite lengthenexpandadd
- ▪ delete (part of a text or other display) so as to insert a copy of it elsewhere.
- ▪ absent oneself from (something one should normally attend, especially school): North American "Robert was cutting class"
- 6. end or interrupt the provision of (a supply): "we resolved to cut oil supplies to territories controlled by the rebels" Similar discontinuebreak offsuspendinterruptstopendput an end toOpposite restore
- ▪ switch off (an engine or a light): "Niall brought the car to a halt and cut the engine" Similar turn offswitch offshut offdeactivateinformal:killOpposite turn on
- 7. (of a line) cross or intersect (another line): "mark the point where the line cuts the vertical axis" Similar crossintersectbisectmeetjointechnical:decussateOpposite diverge
- 8. stop filming or recording: "‘Cut’ shouted a voice, followed by ‘Could we do it again, please?’"
- ▪ move to another shot in a film: "cut to a dentist's surgery"
- ▪ make (a film) into a coherent whole by removing parts or placing them in a different order: "I like to watch the rushes at home before I start cutting the film"
- 9. mix (an illegal drug) with another substance: "dealers cut the drugs to stretch their supply"
- 10. strike or kick (a ball) with an abrupt, typically downward motion: "Cook cut the ball back to him"
- ▪ slice (the ball).
- ▪ hit (the ball) to the off side with the bat held almost horizontally; play such a stroke against (the bowler).
- ▪ (of the ball) turn sharply on pitching.
- 11. divide a pack of playing cards by lifting a portion from the top, either to reveal a card at random or to place the top portion under the bottom portion: "let's cut for dealer"
- 12. ignore or refuse to recognize (someone): dated "they cut her in public" Similar snubignoreshungive someone the cold shouldercold-shoulderturn one's back oncut deadlook right throughpretend not to seerebuffspurnostracizesend to Coventryinformal:give someone the brush-offfreeze outstiff-armgive someone the bum's rushgive someone the brushsnoutinformal, dated:give someone the go-by
noun
- 1. a stroke or blow given by a sharp-edged implement or by a whip or cane: "he could skin an animal with a single cut of the knife" Similar blowslashstrokeinformal:swipe
- ▪ a haircut: "his hair was in need of a cut" Similar haircuttrimclipcrop
- ▪ a reduction in amount or size: "she took a 20% pay cut" Similar reductioncutbackdecreaseretrenchmentlesseningcurtailmentrollbackinformal:slashOpposite increase
- ▪ a power cut: British "fortunately the cut happened at night and power was quickly restored" Similar power cutloss of supplyinterruption of supplybreakdownblackout
- ▪ an act of cutting part of a book, play, etc.: "they would not publish the book unless the author was willing to make cuts"
- ▪ an immediate transition from one scene to another in a film: "instead of hard cuts, we used dissolves to give it a very dreamy character"
- ▪ the halfway point of a golf tournament, where half of the players are eliminated.
- ▪ a stroke made with an abrupt, typically horizontal or downward action: "Kellett was denied a century by edging a cut to wicketkeeper Burns"
- 2. a long, narrow incision in the skin made by something sharp: "blood ran from a cut on his jaw" Similar gashslashlacerationincisionslitwoundinjuryscratchgrazenicksnick
- ▪ a long, narrow opening or incision made in a surface or piece of material: "make a single cut along the top of each potato"
- ▪ a piece of meat cut from a carcass: "a good lean cut of beef" Similar piecesectionbitjoint
- ▪ a share of the profits from something: informal "the directors are demanding their cut" Similar shareportionbitquotapercentagecommissiondividendinformal:whackslice of the cakerake-offpiece of the action
- ▪ a recording of a piece of music: "a cut from his forthcoming album"
- ▪ a version of a film after editing: "the final cut"
- ▪ a passage cut or dug out, as a railway cutting or a new channel made for a river or other waterway: "the cut connected with the Harborough arm of the canal"
- 3. a wounding remark or act: "his unkindest cut at Elizabeth was to call her heartless" Similar insultslightaffrontslap in the facejibebarbcutting remarkshaftinformal:put-downdigbrush-off
- 4. the way or style in which something, especially a garment or someone's hair, is cut: "the elegant cut of his dinner jacket" Similar styledesigntailoringlinesfit
Word Origin Middle English (probably existing, although not recorded, in Old English); probably of Germanic origin and related to Norwegian kutte and Icelandic kuta ‘cut with a small knife’, kuti ‘small blunt knife’.
Scrabble Points: 5
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