I. ˈkət verb
( cut ; cut·ting )
Etymology: Middle English cutten
Date: 13th century
transitive verb
1.
a. : to penetrate with or as if with an edged instrument
b. : to hurt the feelings of
c. : to strike sharply with a cutting effect
d. : to strike (a ball) with a glancing blow that imparts a reverse spin
e. : to experience the growth of (a tooth) through the gum
2.
a. : trim , pare
cut one's nails
b. : to shorten by omissions
cut the manuscript
c. : dilute , adulterate
cut the whiskey with water
d. : to reduce in amount
cut costs
3.
a. : mow , reap
cut hay
b.
(1) : to divide into parts with an edged tool
cut bread
(2) : fell , hew
c.
(1) : to separate or discharge from an organization
cut them from the team
(2) : to single out and isolate
cut a calf out from the herd
d. : to turn (as a steering wheel) sharply
the driver cut the wheel hard
e. : to go or pass around or about : bypass
cut the checkout line
4.
a. : to divide into segments
cut the cake
b. : intersect , cross
one line cutting another
c. : break , interrupt
cut our supply lines
d.
(1) : to divide (a deck of cards) into two portions
(2) : to draw (a card) from the deck
e. : to divide into shares : split
f. : analyze , break down
any way you cut it, we won
5.
a. : to make by or as if by cutting: as
(1) : carve
cut stone
(2) : to shape by grinding
cut a diamond
(3) : engrave
(4) : to shear or hollow out
cut a groove
b.
(1) : to sing, play, or act for the recording of
cut an album
cut a commercial
(2) : to sing or play (as a song or a track) for a studio recording
c. : to type on a stencil
d. : edit 1b
cut a motion picture
6.
a. : stop , cease
cut the nonsense
b. : to refuse to recognize (an acquaintance)
they cut her dead at the party
c. : to absent oneself from (as a class)
d. : to stop (a motor) by opening a switch
e. : to stop the filming of (a motion-picture scene)
7.
a. : to engage in (a frolicsome or mischievous action)
on summer nights strange capers are cut under the thin guise of a Christian festival — D. C. Peattie
b. : to give the appearance or impression of
cut a fine figure
8. : to be able to manage or handle — usually used in negative constructions
can't cut that kind of work anymore
9.
a. : to yield or accord to another : give
cut me some slack
b. : to fill out and sign (a check)
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to function as or as if as an edged tool
b. : to undergo incision or severance
cheese cut s easily
c. : to perform the operation of dividing, severing, incising, or intersecting
d. : to make a stroke with a whip, sword, or other weapon
e. : to wound feelings or sensibilities
f. : to cause constriction or chafing
g. : to be of effect, influence, or significance
an analysis that cut s deep
2.
a.
(1) : to divide a pack of cards especially in order to decide the deal or settle a bet
(2) : to draw a card from the pack
b. : to divide spoils : split
3.
a. : to proceed obliquely from a straight course
cut across the yard
b. : to move swiftly
a yacht cutting through the water
c. : to describe an oblique or diagonal line
d. : to change sharply in direction : swerve
e. : to make an abrupt transition from one sound or image to another in motion pictures, radio, or television
f. : to make a sudden transition or imaginative leap
the story cut s to 1917
4. : to stop photographing motion pictures
5. : to advance by skipping or bypassing another
cut to the front of the line
•
- cut a deal
- cut both ways
- cut corners
- cut ice
- cut it
- cut loose
- cut one's teeth
- cut the mustard
- cut to the chase
II. noun
Date: 1530
1. : a product of cutting: as
a.
(1) : an opening made with an edged instrument
(2) : a wound made by something sharp : gash
b. : a creek, channel, or inlet made by excavation or worn by natural action
c. : a surface or outline left by cutting
d. : a passage cut as a roadway
e. : a grade or step especially in a social scale
a cut above the ordinary
f. : a subset of a set such that when it is subtracted from the set the remainder is not connected
g. : a pictorial illustration
h. : track 1e(2)
2. : the act or an instance of cutting: as
a. : a gesture or expression that hurts the feelings
made an unkind cut
b. : a straight passage or course
c. : a stroke or blow with the edge of a knife or other edged tool
d. : a lash with or as if with a whip
e. : the act of reducing or removing a part
a cut in pay
f. : an act or turn of cutting cards ; also : the result of cutting
g. : the elimination of part of a large field from further participation, consideration, or competition (as in a golf tournament) — often used with miss or make to denote respectively being or not being among those eliminated
played well and made the cut
3. : something that is cut or cut off: as
a. : a length of cloth varying from 40 to 100 yards (36.6 to 91.4 meters)
b. : the yield of products cut especially during one harvest
c. : a segment or section of a meat carcass or a part of one
d. : a group of animals selected from a herd
e. : share
took his cut of the profits
4. : a voluntary absence from a class
5.
a. : a stroke that cuts a ball ; also : the spin imparted by such a stroke
b. : a swing by a batter at a pitched baseball
c. : an exchange of captures in checkers
6. : a result of editing: as
a. : an abrupt transition from one sound or image to another in motion pictures, radio, or television
b. : an edited version of a film
7.
a. : the shape and style in which a thing is cut, formed, or made
clothes of the latest cut
b. : pattern , type
c. : haircut
•
- cut of one's jib
III. adjective
: marked by a well-developed and highly defined musculature
cut abs