cut

From Middle English cutten, kitten, kytten, ketten (“to cut”) (compare Scots kut, kit (“to cut”)), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse kytja, kutta, from Proto-Germanic *kutjaną, *kuttaną (“to cut”), of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *kwetwą (“meat, flesh”) (compare Old Norse kvett (“meat”)). Akin to Middle Swedish kotta (“to cut or carve with a knife”) (compare dialectal Swedish kåta, kuta (“to cut or chip with a knife”), Swedish kuta, kytti (“a knife”)), Norwegian Bokmål kutte (“to cut”), Norwegian Nynorsk kutte (“to cut”), Icelandic kuta (“to cut with a knife”), Old Norse kuti (“small knife”), Norwegian kyttel, kytel, kjutul (“pointed slip of wood used to strip bark”).

Displaced native Middle English snithen (from Old English snīþan; compare German schneiden), which still survives in some dialects as snithe or snead. See snide.

Adjective sense of "drunk" (now rare and now usually used in the originally jocular derivative form of half-cut) dates from the 17th century, from cut in the leg, to have cut your leg, euphemism for being very drunk.

• IPA^(key): /kʌt/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Audio (AUS)

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• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /kʊt/
• Rhymes: -ʌt

cut (third-person singular simple present cuts, present participle cutting, simple past cut or (nonstandard) cutted, past participle cut or (archaic) cutten)

1. (chiefly transitive) To incise, to cut into the surface of something.
   1. To perform an incision on, for example with a knife.
      • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

        You must cut this flesh from off his breast.

   2. To divide with a knife, scissors, or another sharp instrument.

      Would you please cut the cake?

      • 1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

        Before the whistling winds the vessels fly, / With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way.

      • 2012 May 8, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook‎, Random House, →ISBN, page 79:

        First, marinate the tofu. In a bowl, whisk the kecap manis, chilli sauce, and sesame oil together. Cut the tofu into strips about 1cm thick, mix gently (so it doesn't break) with the marinade and leave in the fridge for half an hour.

   3. To form or shape by cutting.

      I have three diamonds to cut today.

      • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

        Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, / Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster

      • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

        loopholes cut through thickest shade

   4. (slang) To wound with a knife.
      • 1990, Stephen Dobyns, The house on Alexandrine:

        We don't want your money no more. We just going to cut you.

   5. (intransitive) To engage in self-harm by making cuts in one's own skin.

      The patient said she had been cutting since the age of thirteen.

   6. (transitive, intransitive) To deliver a stroke with a whip or like instrument to.
      • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

        “My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”

   7. To wound or hurt deeply the sensibilities of; to pierce.

      Sarcasm cuts to the quick.

      • 1829, Elijah Hoole, Personal Narrative of a Mission to the South of India, from 1820 to 1828:

        she feared she should laugh to hear an European preach in Tamul , but on the contrary , was cut to the heart by what she heard

   8. To castrate or geld.

      to cut a horse

   9. To interfere, as a horse; to strike one foot against the opposite foot or ankle in using the legs.
2. (intransitive) To admit of incision or severance; to yield to a cutting instrument.
   • 1858, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., chapter XI, in The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, The Deacon's Masterpiece:

     The panels of white-wood that cuts like cheese, / But lasts like iron for things like these;

3. (transitive, social) To separate, remove, reject or reduce.
   1. To separate or omit, in a situation where one was previously associated.

      Travis was cut from the team.

   2. To abridge or shorten a work; to remove a portion of a recording during editing.
   3. To reduce, especially intentionally.

      They're going to cut salaries by fifteen percent.

      • 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:

        In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. Essential public services are cut so that the rich may pay less tax.

      • 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:

        The principle of prioritising longer-distance trains by cutting services to wayside stations (often leading directly to their closure) is not new.

   4. To absent oneself from (a class, an appointment, etc.).

      I cut fifth period to hang out with Angela.

      • 1833, Thomas Hamilton, Men and Manners in America:

        An English tradesman is always solicitous to cut the shop whenever he can do so with impunity.

   5. (intransitive, slang) To leave abruptly.

      Synonym: (slang) dip

      I gotta cut but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?

      • 2023 September 3, @tamashbean, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 25 April 2024:

        my friends and i had gone for lunch but i had to cut early and couldn't get dessert (which if you know me it's my top priority) so they got it packed and dropped off at my place without a word "open the lift and take it" ?????????? how is this real i will literally cry

4. (transitive, social) To ignore as a social rebuff or snub.

   Synonym: spear

   After the incident at the dinner party, people started to cut him on the street.

   • 1903, Samuel Barber, The Way of All Flesh chapter 73:

     At first it had been very painful to him to meet any of his old friends, [...] but this soon passed; either they cut him, or he cut them; it was not nice being cut for the first time or two, but after that, it became rather pleasant than not [...] The ordeal is a painful one, but if a man's moral and intellectual constitution are naturally sound, there is nothing which will give him so much strength of character as having been well cut.

   • 1973, Gore Vidal, Burr :

     The ordinary people greet him (Aaron Burr) warmly while the respectable folk tend to cut him dead.

   • 27 September 2013, Kane, Kathryn, The Regency Redingote Blog The Cut: The Ultimate & Final Social Weapon:

     The Monthly Magazine, Or, British Register for 1798 included an explanation by a reader of how the cut was carried out in his college days in a lengthy letter to the editor, signed by the pseudonym "Ansonius." In his rambling letter, Ansonius noted that when he was at college, " … if a man passed an old acquaintance wittingly, without recognizing him, he was said— ‘To cut him.’" Ansonius then went on to explain the performance of the cut and noted that for a time the term "to spear" was used instead of to cut. However, that term did not remain long in use, and this act was generally known as "the cut" ever after.

5. (intransitive, film) To make an abrupt transition from one scene or image to another.

   The camera then cut to the woman on the front row who was clearly overcome and crying tears of joy.

6. (transitive, film) To edit a film by selecting takes from original footage.
7. (transitive, computing) To remove (text, a picture, etc.) and place in memory in order to paste at a later time.

   Select the text, cut it, and then paste it in the other application.

8. (intransitive) To enter a queue in the wrong place.

   One student kept trying to cut in front of the line.

   • 2010 June 8, guy & rOdd, “Brevity”, in gocomics.com‎:

     Excuse me, do you mind if I cut?!

9. (intransitive) To intersect or cross in such a way as to divide in half or nearly so.

   This road cuts right through downtown.

   • 2011 January 18, Daniel Taylor, “Manchester City 4 Leicester City 2”, in Guardian Online:

     Neither Joleon Lescott nor Vieira appeared to make any contact with Dyer as he cut between them.

   • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:

     Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.

10. (transitive, cricket) To make the ball spin sideways by running one's fingers down the side of the ball while bowling it. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
11. (transitive, cricket) To deflect (a bowled ball) to the off, with a chopping movement of the bat.
12. (intransitive) To change direction suddenly.

    The football player cut to his left to evade a tackle.

13. (transitive, intransitive) To divide a pack of playing cards into two.

    If you cut then I'll deal.

14. (transitive, slang) To make, to negotiate, to conclude.

    I'll cut a check for you.

    I didn't deserve it, but he cut me a deal.

    to cut a deal, to cut deals

    to cut a fantastic deal, to cut a raw deal

15. (transitive, slang) To dilute or adulterate something, especially a recreational drug.

    The best malt whiskies are improved if they are cut with a dash of water.

    The bartender cuts his beer to save money and now it's all watery.

    Drug dealers sometimes cut cocaine with lidocaine.

16. (transitive) To exhibit (a figure having some trait).
    • 2011 January 25, Paul Fletcher, “Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (agg. 3-1)”, in BBC:

      Arsenal were starting to work up a head of steam and Tractor Boys boss Paul Jewell cut an increasingly frustrated figure on the touchline.

17. (transitive) To stop, disengage, or cease.

    Synonym: cut out

    The schoolchildren were told to cut the noise.

    Cut the engines when the plane comes to a halt!

18. (transitive) To renounce or give up.

    Synonym: cut out

19. (sports) To drive (a ball) to one side, as by (in billiards or croquet) hitting it fine with another ball, or (in tennis) striking it with the racket inclined.
20. (bodybuilding) To lose body mass, aiming to keep muscle but lose body fat.

    Coordinate term: bulk

21. To perform (an elaborate dancing movement etc.).

    to cut a caper

    • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

      'Choke, chicken, there's more a-hatching,' said Miss Mag, in a sort of aside, and cutting a flic-flac with a merry devilish laugh, and a wink to Puddock.

• See Thesaurus:cut

• chop, hack, slice, trim

• copy
• paste

cut (comparative more cut, superlative most cut)

1. (participial adjective) Having been cut.
   • 1958 November 7 [1956], Excerpts from "Economic Geography of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region"‎, United States Joint Publications Research Service, →OCLC, page 58:

     The real purpose of building this railway on the part of the Japanese imperialists at that time was to spy on the Mongolian People's Republic and to transport the timber produced in the A-erh-t'ai forest zone. […] The principal cargo consists of cut timber from the A-erh-t'ai-shan, and the cereal products of Wu-lan-hao-t'e.

2. Reduced.

   The pitcher threw a cut fastball that was slower than his usual pitch.

   Cut brandy is a liquor made of brandy and hard grain liquor.

3. (of a gem) Carved into a shape; not raw.
4. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (cricket, of a shot) Played with a horizontal bat to hit the ball backward of point.
5. (bodybuilding) Having muscular definition in which individual groups of muscle fibers stand out among larger muscles.
   • 1988, Steve Holman, “Christian Conquers Columbus”, in Ironman, 47 (6): 28-34:

     Or how 'bout Shane DiMora? Could he possibly get rip-roaring cut this time around?

   • 2010, Bill Geiger, “6-pack Abs in 9 Weeks”, in Reps!, 17:106:

     That's the premise of the overload principle, and it must be applied, even to ab training, if you're going to develop a cut, ripped midsection.

6. (informal) Circumcised or having been the subject of female genital mutilation.
7. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Upset, angry; emotionally hurt. [from 20th c.]
   • 1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 41:

     ‘Here y'are,’ says the happy butcher, dragging out a bucket. ‘Good riddance. But me dogs'll be cut tonight, I tell ya. That's their grub.’

8. (slang, New Zealand, formerly UK) Intoxicated as a result of drugs or alcohol.[1]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:drunk

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 51, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     I was dev’lish cut—uncommon—been dining with some chaps at Greenwich.

cut (countable and uncountable, plural cuts)

A cut (graph theory sense) in a graph with five vertices, which partitioned it into two subgroups (one with white vertices and another with black vertices).

1. The act of cutting.

   He made a fine cut with his sword.

2. The result of cutting.

   a smooth or clear cut

3. An opening resulting from cutting; an incision or wound.

   Look at this cut on my finger!

4. A notch, passage, or channel made by cutting or digging; a furrow; a groove.

   a cut for a railroad

   • 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

     which great cut or ditch Sesostris […] purposed to have made a great deale wider and deeper.

   1. An artificial navigation channel as distinguished from a navigable river.
5. A share or portion of profits.

   The bank robbers disbanded after everyone got their cut of the money.

   • 2022 April 6, Andrew R. Chow, “Inside Epic's Unreal Engine 5”, in Time‎:

     Starting today, UE5 is free to download and use, with Epic taking a 5% cut on products created with it only after they earn over $1 million in gross revenue.

6. A decrease.

   Antonym: hike (used in same contexts); increase

   The boss took a 5% pay cut.

7. (cricket) A batsman's shot played with a swinging motion of the bat, to hit the ball backward of point.
8. (cricket) Sideways movement of the ball through the air caused by a fast bowler imparting spin to the ball.
9. (sports) In lawn tennis, etc., a slanting stroke causing the ball to spin and bound irregularly; also, the spin thus given to the ball.
10. (golf) In a stroke play competition, the early elimination of those players who have not then attained a preannounced score, so that the rest of the competition is less pressed for time and more entertaining for spectators.
11. (especially theater, film) A passage omitted or to be omitted from a play, movie script, speech, etc.

    The director asked the cast to note down the following cuts.

12. (film) A particular version or edit of a film.

    the director's cut

13. (card games) The act or right of dividing a deck of playing cards.

    The player next to the dealer makes a cut by placing the bottom half on top.

14. (card games) The card obtained by dividing the pack.
15. The manner or style in which a garment or an article of clothing is fashioned.

    I like the cut of that suit.

    • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:

      with eyes severe and beard of formal cut

16. A slab or slice, especially of meat.

    That’s our finest cut of meat.

    • 1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope Amidst Cross-Purposes”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The Alderbrink Press, →OCLC, page 110:

      Cope pushed away his coffee-cup and asked the young Greek for a cut of pie.

17. (fencing) An attack made with a chopping motion of the blade, landing with its edge or point.
18. A deliberate snub, typically a refusal to return a bow or other acknowledgement of acquaintance.
    • 1819, Washington Irving, (Rip Van Winkle)::

      Rip called him by name, but the cur snarled, showed his teeth, and passed on. This was an unkind cut indeed.

    • 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:

      After several experiences like this, I began to entertain a sort of respect for Kooloo, as quite a man of the world. In good sooth, he turned out to be one; in one week's time giving me the cut direct, and lounging by without even nodding. He must have taken me for part of the landscape.

19. An unkind act; a cruelty.
20. (slang) An insult
    • 1966-1969, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure

      We got out & there was a group of boppers, bout 25 of 'm in a group. They started yellin cuts, "queer" seemed to be the favorite they all began chanting it. "Hey, yer not gonna serve those queers, are ya Howie?"

21. A definable part, such as an individual song, of a recording, particularly of commercial records, audio tapes, CDs, etc.

    The drummer on the last cut of their CD is not identified.

    • 1975, Billboard, volume 87, number 24, page 50:

      Best cuts: "The Evil Dude," "Kung Fu, Too!" "Mama Love," "New Orleans" (with a punchy vocal by Teresa Brewer).

22. (archaeology) A truncation, a context that represents a moment in time when other archaeological deposits were removed for the creation of some feature such as a ditch or pit.
23. A haircut.
24. (graph theory) The partition of a graph’s vertices into two subgroups.
25. (Internet) A dividing line in a Tumblr post, the content below which is hidden until the reader reveals it.

    That's the TL;DR, anyway. You can find a more detailed version under the cut.

26. (rail transport) A string of railway cars coupled together, shorter than a train.
    • 1960 June, “Talking of Trains: The new Margam yard”, in Trains Illustrated, page 323:

      The shunter has a lightweight portable radio transmitter by which, as he uncouples an incoming train into cuts for marshalling, he informs the Traffic Office of the number of wagons in each cut and its siding; [...].

27. An engraved block or plate; the impression from such an engraving.

    a book illustrated with fine cuts

28. (obsolete) A common workhorse; a gelding.
    • 1613–1614, William Shakespeare, John Fletcher, “The Two Noble Kinsmen.”, in Fifty Comedies and Tragedies. […], [part 2], London: […] J[ohn] Macock [and H. Hills], for John Martyn, Henry Herringman, and Richard Marriot, published 1679, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv, page 436, column 2:

      He's buy me a whit Cut, forth for to ride

29. (slang, dated) The failure of a college officer or student to be present at any appointed exercise.
30. A skein of yarn.
    • 1632, North Riding Record:

      Two women for stealing 30 cuttes of linen yarn.

31. (slang, uncountable) That which is used to dilute or adulterate a recreational drug.

    Synonym: mix

    Don't buy his coke: it's full of cut.

32. (fashion) A notch shaved into an eyebrow.
33. (bodybuilding) A time period when one attempts to lose fat while retaining muscle mass.
34. (slang) A hidden, secluded, or secure place.
    • 1992 September 22, Da Lench Mob (lyrics and music), “Guerillas in tha Mist” (track 6), in Guerillas in tha Mist‎:

      I'm laying in a cut 'bout to shoot me a mutt

    • 2008 March 9, David Simon, “-30-”, in The Wire, season 5, episode 10 (television production), spoken by Slim Charles (Anwan Glover), via HBO:

      You don't mind me askin', why you want to sell? I mean, even from inside here, you can take a slice for just layin' in the cut.

    • 2010 April 14, Wiz Khalifa, “In the Cut”, in Kush & Orange Juice‎:

      In the cut, in the cut, rolling doobies up

    • 2012, Honey Cocaine, In The Cut:

      Bitch I'm out, catch me chillin' in the cut. Me and my homies swag it out in the cut. It's a party going down in the cut.

    • 2016, Drake (lyrics and music), “Summer Sixteen"”:

      Famous as fuck, but I’m still in the cut when they round up the troops.

    • 2021, Redferrin, "Stuck":

      She got me stuck. Like a truck, deep mud, deep ruts, way out in the cut. She got me stuck. Even four-wheel drive won't work this time, yeah.

    • 2023 January 9th, Santana Hannah, in JOLLY, "Brits try REAL Southern Fried Chicken for the first time!", YouTube, 11:27:

      We're off the beaten path from River Street downtown. So, it's, we're back here in the cut.

35. (petrochemistry) The range of temperatures used to distill a particular mixture of hydrocarbons from crude oil.

cut!

1. (film and television) An instruction to cease recording.

   Antonym: action

• nut-cut (probably etymologically unrelated?)

• TCU, TUC, UCT, UTC

From English cut.