cut
cut [cut cuts cutting] verb, noun BrE [kʌt] NAmE [kʌt]
verb (cut·ting, cut, cut)
WOUND/HOLE
1. transitive, intransitive to make an opening or a wound in sth, especially with a sharp tool such as a knife or scissors
•~ sth She cut her finger on a piece of glass.
•~ yourself He cut himself (= his face) shaving.
•~ sth + adj. She had fallen and cut her head open.
•~ through sth You need a powerful saw to cut through metal.
• (figurative)The canoe cut through the water.
REMOVE WITH KNIFE
2. transitive to remove sth or a part of sth, using a knife, etc
•~ sth (from sth) He cut four thick slices from the loaf.
•a bunch of cut flowers
•~ sb sth I cut them all a piece of birthday cake.
•~ sth for sb I cut a piece of birthday cake for them all.
3. transitive ~ sth (in sth) to make or form sth by removing material with a knife, etc
•The climbers cut steps in the ice.
•Workmen cut a hole in the pipe.
DIVIDE
4. transitive to divide sth into two or more pieces with a knife, etc
•~ sth Don't cut the string, untie the knots.
•~ sth in/into sth He cut the loaf into thick slices.
•The bus was cut in two by the train.
•Now cut the tomatoes in half.
HAIR/NAILS/GRASS, ETC.
5. transitive to make sth shorter by cutting
•~ sth to cut your hair/nails
•to cut the grass/lawn/hedge
•~ sth + adj. He's had his hair cut really short.
RELEASE
6. transitive to allow sb to escape from somewhere by cutting the rope, object, etc. that is holding them
•~ sb (from sth) The injured driver had to be cut from the wreckage.
•~ sb + adj. Two survivors were cut free after being trapped for twenty minutes.
CLOTHING
7. transitive, usually passive ~ sth + adj. to design and make a piece of clothing in a particular way
•The swimsuit was cut high in the leg.
ABLE TO CUT/BE CUT
8. intransitive to be capable of cutting
• This knife won't cut.
9. intransitive to be capable of being cut
• Sandstone cuts easily.
REDUCE
10. transitive to reduce sth by removing a part of it
•~ sth to cut prices/taxes/spending/production
• Buyers will bargain hard to cut the cost of the house they want.
•~ sth by… His salary has been cut by ten per cent.
•~ sth (from…) (to…) Could you cut your essay from 5 000 to 3 000 words?
REMOVE
11. transitive ~ sth (from sth) to remove sth from sth
• This scene was cut from the final version of the movie.
COMPUTING
12. intransitive, transitive ~ (sth) to ↑delete (= remove) part of a text on a computer screen in order to place it somewhere else
• You can cut and paste between different programs.
STOP
13. transitive ~ sth (informal)used to tell sb to stop doing sth
•Cut the chatter and get on with your work!
END
14. transitive ~ sth to completely end a relationship or all communication with sb
Syn: ↑sever
•She has cut all ties with her family.
•He has refused to cut links with these companies.
IN MOVIE/TV
15. transitive ~ sth to prepare a film/movie or tape by removing parts of it or putting them in a different order
Syn: ↑edit
see also ↑director's cut
16. intransitive (usually used in orders)to stop filming or recording
•The director shouted ‘Cut!’
17. intransitive ~ (from sth) to sth (in films/movies, radio or television)to move quickly from one scene to another
•The scene cuts from the bedroom to the street.
MISS CLASS
18. transitive ~ sth (informal, especially NAmE)to stay away from a class that you should go to
•He's always cutting class.
UPSET
19. transitive ~ sb to hurt sb emotionally
•His cruel remarks cut her deeply.
IN CARD GAMES
20. intransitive, transitive ~ (sth) to lift and turn up a ↑pack of ↑playing cards in order to decide who is to play first, etc
•Let's cut for dealer.
GEOMETRY
21. transitive ~ sth (of a line)to cross another line
•The line cuts the circle at two points.
A TOOTH
22. transitive ~ a tooth to have a new tooth beginning to appear through the ↑gum
•When did she cut her first tooth?
A DISC, ETC.
23. transitive ~ a disc, etc. to make a recording of music on a record, CD, etc
•The Beatles cut their first disc in 1962.
DRUG
24. transitive ~ sth (with sth) to mix an illegal drug such as ↑heroin with another substance
Rem: Most idioms containing cut are at the entries for the nouns and adjectives in the idioms, for example cut your losses is at loss.
Verb forms: 
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’.
Thesaurus:
cut verb
1. T
•She cut her finger on a piece of glass.
slash • • slit • • nick • • split • • gash •
cut/slash/slit sb's throat/your wrists
cut/split your head/lip
cut/nick yourself
2. T
•He cut two slices of bread.
chop • • slice • • carve • • dice •
cut/chop/slice/carve sth into sth
cut/chop/slice sth off sth
cut/chop/slice/carve/dice meat
cut/slice bread/cake
chop/slice an onion
3. T
•She had her hair cut really short.
trim • • snip • • clip • • crop • • shear • • shave • • lop • • mow •
cut/trim/snip/clip/shear/shave/lop sth off
cut/trim/snip/clip/crop/shear/shave hair
cut/trim/clip a hedge
cut/clip your/sb's nails
cut/mow the grass/lawn
4. T
•His party promises to cut taxes.
cut sth back/cut back on sth • • cut sth down/cut down on sth • • reduce • • lower • • bring sth down • |especially AmE business scale sth back • |business downsize • |informal, journalism slash • |BrE axe • |AmE ax •
Opp: increase, Opp: raise
cut sth/cut sth back/cut sth down/reduce sth/lower sth/bring sth down/downsize sth from €50 000 to €40 000
cut sth/cut sth back/cut sth down/educe sth/lower sth by half, 50, etc.
cut/cut back on/cut down on/reduce/lower/scale back/slash spending/production
Cut, cut sth back, cut sth down or scale sth back? Cut is the most general of these words. Cut sth back and scale sth back are both used especially to talk about money or business. Cut sth down is more general and is used to talk about things other than business.
Synonyms:
cut
slash • cut sth back • scale sth back • rationalize • downsize
These words all mean to reduce the amount or size of sth, especially of an amount of money or a business.
cut • to reduce sth, especially an amount of money that is demanded, spent, earned, etc. or the size of a business: ▪ The President has promised to cut taxes significantly. ◇ ▪ Buyers will bargain hard to cut the cost of the house they want. ◇ ▪ His salary has been cut by ten per cent. ◇ ▪ Could you cut your essay from 5 000 to 3 000 words?
slash • [often passive] (rather informal) (often used in newspapers) to reduce sth by a large amount: ▪ The workforce has been slashed by half.
cut sth back/ • cut back on sth • to reduce sth, especially an amount of money or business: ▪ We had to cut back production.
scale sth back • (especially NAmE or business) to reduce sth, especially an amount of money or business: ▪ The IMF has scaled back its growth forecasts for the next decade.
rationalize • (BrE, business) to make changes to a business or system, in order to make it more efficient, especially by spending less money.
downsize • (business) to make a company or organization smaller by reducing the number of jobs in it, in order to reduce costs. Downsize is often used by people who want to avoid saying more obvious words like ‘dismiss’ or ‘make redundant’ because they sound too negative.
to cut/slash/cut back on/scale back/rationalize spending/production
to cut/slash/cut back on jobs
to cut/slash/downsize the workforce
to cut/slash/rationalize the cost of sth
to cut/slash prices/taxes/the budget
to cut sth/slash sth/cut sth back drastically
Example Bank:
•Cut the cake into six pieces.
•Cut the carrots in half lengthwise.
•Cut the courgette in half lengthways.
•Cut the stem cleanly, just beneath a leaf joint.
•He cut the bread into thin slices.
•His career was cut short by injury.
•His thoughts were abruptly cut off by a blinding flash of pain.
•I can't cut through this wood.
•I told the stylist I wanted my hair cut short.
•I'm trying to cut down on fatty foods.
•Local authorities have been forced to cut back on expenditure.
•Make sure you cut the bread nice and thick.
•She cut the loaf in two and gave me one of the halves.
•She fell and cut her head open.
•She picked up the knife and cut into the meat.
•Social work services have been cut back drastically.
•Some trees had been cut down.
•The department has to cut its spending by 30%.
•The price has been cut from €250 to €175.
•They were completely cut off from the outside world.
•Two survivors were cut free after being trapped for twenty minutes.
•We have managed to cut our costs drastically.
•We should cut back to previous levels of spending.
•cutting down trees
•freshly cut flowers
•Don't cut the string; untie the knot.
•He cut four slices from the loaf.
•He cut himself shaving.
•Her hair had been very well cut.
•I'll cut the apple in half.
•I'm going to get/have my hair cut really short.
•Shall I cut you a piece of cake?
•The President has promised to cut taxes significantly.
•You can cut out this whole paragraph without losing any of the impact.
Idioms: ↑cut above somebody ▪ ↑cut and run ▪ ↑cut and thrust ▪ ↑cut it
Derived: ↑cut across something ▪ ↑cut down ▪ ↑cut in ▪ ↑cut out ▪ ↑cut out for something ▪ ↑cut out to be something ▪ ↑cut somebody down ▪ ↑cut somebody in ▪ ↑cut somebody off ▪ ↑cut somebody out ▪ ↑cut somebody up ▪ ↑cut something away ▪ ↑cut something back ▪ ↑cut something down ▪ ↑cut something off ▪ ↑cut something out ▪ ↑cut something up ▪ ↑cut through something ▪ ↑cut up
noun
WOUND
1. a wound caused by sth sharp
•cuts and bruises on the face
• Blood poured from the deep cut on his arm.
HOLE
2. a hole or an opening in sth, made with sth sharp
• Using sharp scissors, make a small cut in the material.
REDUCTION
3. ~ (in sth) a reduction in amount, size, supply, etc
•price/tax/job cuts
• They had to take a 20% cut in pay.
• They announced cuts in public spending.
see also ↑power cut, ↑short cut
OF HAIR
4. usually singular an act of cutting sb's hair; the style in which it is cut
• Your hair could do with a cut (= it is too long).
•a cut and blow-dry
see also ↑buzz cut
OF CLOTHING
5. usually singular the shape and style that a piece of clothing has because of the way the cloth is cut
•the elegant cut of her dress
•trousers with a loose cut designed for comfortable wear
SHARE OF MONEY
6. a share in sth, especially money
• They were rewarded with a cut of 5% from the profits.
OF MOVIE/PLAY, ETC.
7. ~ (in sth) an act of removing part of a film/movie, play, piece of writing, etc
•The director objected to the cuts ordered by the censor.
•She made some cuts before handing over the finished novel.
MEAT
8. a piece of meat cut from an animal
•a lean cut of pork
•cheap cuts of stewing lamb
see also ↑cold cuts
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’.
Thesaurus:
cut noun
1. C
•Blood poured from the cut on his arm.
gash • • graze • • scratch • • wound •
cuts/a gash/a wound to a part of the body
a deep cut/gash/scratch/wound
clean a cut/wound
2. C
•They had to take a 20% cut in pay.
reduction • • cutback •
Opp: increase, Opp: rise, Opp: raise
a cut/reduction/cutback in sth
big/huge/large/significant/major/massive cuts/reductions/cutbacks
make cuts/reductions/cutbacks
Cut or reduction? Reduction can be used for things that become less or smaller by themselves, or things that are reduced deliberately by sb. A cut is always made by sb. A cut is usually a negative thing and happens at one point in time; a reduction can be gradual:
•job/salary/pay cuts
• a gradual reduction in output
✗ a gradual cut in output
Example Bank:
•By the time the organizers have had their cut, there won't be much left.
•Clean the cut and cover it to prevent infection.
•He has a small cut on his finger.
•He takes a cut of the profits.
•I've made an appointment to have a hair cut.
•If there's money to be made from selling photos of her, she wants her cut.
•One man was attacked and suffered cuts to his face.
•She got a bad cut over her right eye.
•The company has announced a new round of job cuts.
•The cuts will come into effect next May.
•The recipe calls for a good lean cut of beef.
•The staff have all had to take a cut in salary.
•They are planning to make substantial cuts in the service.
•They get a lot of power cuts because they have overhead wires.
•a cut on her hand
•a high-quality blade that gives a clean cut
•cuts in public spending
•proposed tax cuts
•He came home covered in cuts and bruises.
•She made some lengthy cuts before handing over the finished novel.
•She suffered only minor cuts and grazes as a result of the accident.
•The capital and towns to the north were plunged into darkness by power cuts.
•The director objected to the cuts ordered by the film censor.
•There wasn't much left after his agents took their cut.
•They had to take a 20% cut in pay.
•They were rewarded with a cut of 5% from the profits.
•You can take a short cut across the field.
•job/salary/pay cuts
See also: ↑cut back ▪ ↑cut something off something ▪ ↑cut something through something ▪ ↑cut through something ▪ ↑push in
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