Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To penetrate with a sharp edge; strike a narrow opening in.
- v. To separate into parts with or as if with a sharp-edged instrument; sever: cut cloth with scissors.
- v. To sever the edges or ends of; shorten: cut one's hair.
- v. To mow, reap, or harvest: cut grain; cut grass.
- v. To fell by sawing; hew.
- v. To have (a new tooth) grow through the gums.
- v. To form or shape by severing or incising: a doll that was cut from paper.
- v. To form or shape by grinding: cut a diamond.
- v. To form by penetrating, probing, or digging: cut a trench.
- v. To exhibit the appearance or give the impression of: cuts a fine figure on the dance floor.
- v. To separate from a main body; detach: cut a limb from a tree.
- v. To separate from a group: cut a calf from a herd.
- v. To discharge from a group or number: had to cut six players from the team.
- v. To pass through or across; cross: a sailboat cutting the water.
- v. Games To divide (a deck of cards) into two parts, as in completing a shuffle or in exposing a card at random.
- v. To reduce the size, extent, or duration of; curtail or shorten: cut a payroll; cut a budget; cut the cooking time in half.
- v. To remove or delete: cut a line from a poem.
- v. Computer Science To remove (a segment) from a document or graphics file for storage in a buffer.
- v. To lessen the strength of; dilute: cut whiskey with water.
- v. To dissolve by breaking down the fat of: Soap cuts grease.
- v. To injure the feelings of; hurt keenly.
- v. To refuse to speak to or recognize; snub: cut me dead at the party.
- v. To fail to attend purposely: cut a class.
- v. Informal To cease; stop: cut the noise; cut an engine.
- v. Sports To strike (a ball) so that it spins in a reverse direction.
- v. To perform: cut a caper.
- v. To make out and issue: cut a check to cover travel expenses.
- v. Slang To be able to manage; handle successfully: couldn't cut the long hours anymore.
- v. To stop filming (a movie scene).
- v. To record a performance on (a phonograph record or other medium).
- v. To make a recording of.
- v. To edit (film or recording tape).
- v. Vulgar Slang To expel (a discharge of intestinal gas).
- v. To make an incision or a separation: Cut along the dotted line.
- v. To allow incision or severing: Butter cuts easily.
- v. To function as a sharp-edged instrument.
- v. To remove part of something, such as a text or film.
- v. Computer Science To remove a part of a document or graphics file and store it in a buffer.
- v. To grow through the gums. Used of teeth.
- v. To injure someone's feelings: a remark that cut without mercy.
- v. To change direction abruptly: Cut to the left at the next intersection.
- v. To go directly and often hastily: cut across a field.
- v. Games To divide a pack of cards into two parts, especially in order to make a chance decision or selection.
- v. To make an abrupt change of image or sound, as in filming: cut from one shot to another.
- v. To be very astute and penetrating: an analysis that cuts deep.
- n. The act of cutting.
- n. The result of cutting, especially an opening or wound made by a sharp edge.
- n. A part that has been cut from a main body: a cut of beef; a cut of cloth.
- n. A passage made by digging or probing.
- n. The elimination or removal of a part: a cut in a speech.
- n. A reduction: a cut in salary.
- n. Sports The remainder of contestants in a competition, especially in golf, after some have been eliminated: did very well but still missed the cut.
- n. The style in which a garment is cut: a suit of traditional cut.
- n. A haircut.
- n. Informal A portion of profits or earnings; a share.
- n. A wounding remark; an insult.
- n. An unexcused absence, as from school or a class.
- n. A step in a scale of value or quality; degree: a cut above the average.
- n. Printing An engraved block or plate.
- n. Printing A print made from such a block.
- n. Sports A stroke that causes a ball to spin in a reverse direction.
- n. Baseball A swing of a bat.
- n. Games The act of dividing a deck of cards into two parts, as before dealing.
- n. One of the objects used in drawing lots.
- n. An abrupt change of image or sound, as between shots in a film.
- n. A transition from one scene to another in a film, video, or television program.
- n. A movie at a given stage in its editing: approved the final cut for distribution.
- n. A single selection of music from a recording, especially a phonograph recording.
- adj. Having the ends or edges cut: admired his newly cut hair.
- adj. Having been cut or clipped off: cut grass that blew in the wind.
- adj. Printing Having the page edge slit or trimmed. Used of a book.
- adj. Ground to a specific shape: cut gemstones.
- adj. Slang Circumcised. Used of a man or boy.
- cut back To shorten by cutting; prune.
- cut back To reduce or decrease: cut back production.
- cut down To kill or strike down.
- cut down To alter by removing extra or additional fittings: cut down a car for racing.
- cut down To reduce the amount taken or used: cutting down on one's intake of rich foods.
- cut in To move into a line of people or things out of turn.
- cut in To interrupt: During the debate my opponent kept cutting in.
- cut in To interrupt a dancing couple in order to dance with one of them.
- cut in To connect or become connected into an electrical circuit.
- cut in To mix in with or as if with cutting motions: Measure out the flour and use a pair of knives to cut the shortening in.
- cut in To include, especially among those profiting.
- cut off To separate from others; isolate.
- cut off To stop suddenly; discontinue.
- cut off To shut off; bar.
- cut off To interrupt the course or passage of: The infielder cut off the throw to the plate.
- cut off To interrupt or break the line of communication of: The telephone operator cut us off.
- cut off To disinherit: cut their heirs off without a cent.
- cut out To remove by or as if by cutting.
- cut out To form or shape by or as if by cutting.
- cut out To take the place of; supplant.
- cut out To suit or fit by nature: I'm not cut out to be a hero.
- cut out To assign beforehand or by necessity; predetermine: We've got our work cut out for us.
- cut out To deprive: felt cut out of all the fun.
- cut out To stop; cease.
- cut out Informal To depart hastily.
- cut out Chiefly Southern U.S. To turn off (a light or television set).
- cut up Informal To behave in a playful, comic, or boisterous way; clown.
- cut up Informal To criticize severely.
- idiom. cut a fat hog Texas To take on more than one is able to accomplish: "Boy, has he cut a fat hog, as they say down home” ( Hughes Rudd).
- idiom. cut a wide swath To make a big display; draw much attention.
- idiom. cut both ways To have both favorable and unfavorable results or implications.
- idiom. cut corners To do something in the easiest or most inexpensive way.
- idiom. cut down to size To deflate the self-importance of.
- idiom. cut it Informal To perform up to expectations or a required standard; be acceptable.
- idiom. cut loose To speak or act without restraint: cut loose with a string of curses.
- idiom. cut no ice To make no effect or impression: an objection that cut no ice with management.
- idiom. cut off (one's) nose to spite (one's) face To injure oneself in taking revenge against another.
- idiom. cut (one's) losses To withdraw from a losing situation.
- idiom. cut (one's) teeth on To learn or do as a beginner or at the start of one's career.
- idiom. cut short To stop before the end; abbreviate.
- idiom. cut the cheese Vulgar Slang To expel intestinal gas.
- idiom. cut the mustard To perform up to expectations or to a required standard.
- idiom. cut to the chase To get to the matter at hand.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make, with an edged tool or instrument, an incision in; wound with something having a sharp edge; incise: as, to cut one's finger.
- To penetrate or cleave, as a sharp or edged instrument does.
- To wound the sensibilities of; affect deeply.
- To make incision in for the purpose of dividing or separating into two or more parts; sever or divide with a sharp instrument: used with into (sometimes in) before the parts or divisions, and sometimes with an intensive up: as, to cut a rope in two (that is, into two pieces or parts); to cut bread into slices; to cut up an ox into portions suitable for the market.
- Hence In card-playing, to divide or separate (a pack of cards) at random into two or more parts for the purpose of determining the deal, trumps, etc., or for the prevention of cheating in dealing, etc.
- To sever by the application of a sharp or edged instrument, such as an ax, a saw, a sickle, etc., in order to facilitate removal. Specifically— To hew or saw down; fell: as, to
cut timber. - To reap; mow; harvest: as, to cut grain or hay.
- Hence To remove or separate entirely and effectually by or as by a cutting instrument; sever completely. To take away.
Wiktionary
- adj. Having been cut.
- adj. Reduced.
- adj. Carved into a shape; not raw.
- adj. this sense?) (cricket, Sports) Played with a horizontal bat to hit the ball backward of point.
- adj. Having muscular definition in which individual groups of muscle fibers stand out among larger muscles.
- adj. Circumcised.
- adj. Emotionally hurt.
- n. An opening resulting from cutting.
- n. The act of cutting.
- n. The result of cutting.
- n. A share or portion.
- n. A batsman's shot played with a swinging motion of the bat, to hit the ball backward of point.
- n. Sideways movement of the ball through the air caused by a fast bowler imparting spin to the ball.
- n. The act or right of dividing a deck of playing cards.
- n. The manner or style a garment is fashioned in.
- n. A slab, especially of meat.
- n. An attack made with a chopping motion of the blade, landing with its edge or point.
- n. A deliberate snub, typically a refusal to return a bow or other acknowledgement of acquaintance.
- n. A definable part, such as an individual song, of a recording, particularly of commercial records, audio tapes, CDs, etc.
- n. 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.
- v. To perform an incision, for example with a knife.
- v. To divide with a knife, scissors, or another sharp instrument.
- v. To separate from prior association; to remove a portion of a recording during editing.
- v. To remove and place in memory for later use.
- v. To enter a queue in the wrong place.
- v. To cease recording activities.
- v. To reduce, especially intentionally.
- v. To form or shape by cutting.
- v. To intersect or cross in such a way as to divide in half or nearly so.
- v. To make the ball spin sideways by running one's fingers down the side of the ball while bowling it.
- v. To not attend a class, especially when not permitted.
- v. To change direction suddenly.
- v. To divide a pack of playing cards into two
- v. To dilute a liquid, usually alcohol.
- v. To ignore as a social snub.
- v. To stab (a person).
- v. This word needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text }.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To separate the parts of with, or as with, a sharp instrument; to make an incision in; to gash; to sever; to divide.
- v. To sever and cause to fall for the purpose of gathering; to hew; to mow or reap.
- v. To sever and remove by cutting; to cut off; to dock.
- v. To castrate or geld.
- v. To form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, etc.; to carve; to hew out.
- v. To wound or hurt deeply the sensibilities of; to pierce; to lacerate.
- v. To intersect; to cross.
- v. To refuse to recognize; to ignore.
- v. To absent one's self from. etc.
- v. To deflect (a bowled ball) to the off, with a chopping movement of the bat.
- v. To drive (an object ball) to either side by hitting it fine on the other side with the cue ball or another object ball.
- v. To strike (a ball) with the racket inclined or struck across the ball so as to put a certain spin on the ball.
- v. To drive (a ball) to one side by hitting with another ball.
- v. To do the work of an edged tool; to serve in dividing or gashing.
- v. To admit of incision or severance; to yield to a cutting instrument.
- v. To perform the operation of dividing, severing, incising, intersecting, etc.; to use a cutting instrument.
- v. To make a stroke with a whip.
- v. To interfere, as a horse.
- v. To move or make off quickly.
- v. To divide a pack of cards into two portion to decide the deal or trump, or to change the order of the cards to be dealt.
- n. An opening made with an edged instrument; a cleft; a gash; a slash; a wound made by cutting.
- n. A stroke or blow or cutting motion with an edged instrument; a stroke or blow with a whip.
- n. That which wounds the feelings, as a harsh remark or criticism, or a sarcasm; personal discourtesy, as neglecting to recognize an acquaintance when meeting him; a slight.
- n. A notch, passage, or channel made by cutting or digging; a furrow; a groove.
- n. The surface left by a cut.
- n. A portion severed or cut off; a division.
- n. An engraved block or plate; the impression from such an engraving.
- n. The act of dividing a pack cards.
- n. The right to divide; as, whose
cut is it? - n. Manner in which a thing is cut or formed; shape; style; fashion.
- n. A common work horse; a gelding.
- n. The failure of a college officer or student to be present at any appointed exercise.
- n. A skein of yarn.
- n. A slanting stroke causing the ball to spin and bound irregularly; also, the spin so given to the ball.
- n. A stroke on the off side between point and the wicket; also, one who plays this stroke.
- adj. Gashed or divided, as by a cutting instrument.
- adj. Formed or shaped as by cutting; carved.
- adj. Overcome by liquor; tipsy.
Etymologies
- Middle English cutten.
Examples
“The only remaining type of cutting that is in very general use is the _step cut_ (sometimes known as trap cut).”
A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public
“Fifty dollars reward, for the negro Jim Blake -- has a _piece cut out of each ear_, and the middle finger of the left hand _cut off_ to the second joint.”
“No mess liked to have him permanently because his presence cut off all talk of home or of the prospect of return, of politics or letters, of peace or of war, cut off more than half the talk the men liked to have at sea.”
“But you've all cut the question: tell me now, supposing you had known king David, should you have thought worse of him, should you have been cool to him -- in a word, should you have _cut_ him after his fall?”
“We didn't go there any more then, and I asked Rose what the reason was, and she said Mrs. Mason was poor now, and ma had 'cut her;' and when I asked her what she _cut_ her with, she only laughed, and said she believed I didn't know any thing.”
“A "temple" is a place thus separated, or cut off from other places; for the root of this word, like that of "tempus" (time) is the same as the Greek τέμνω, _to cut_.”
“I didn't cut off his tail, sir; he _cut it off himself_!”
“Sacramento Bee and Miami Herald •plans to cut 1600 jobs •slash executive and director pay and halt bonuses www. bloomberg.com Eastman Chemical Co. will cut 200 to 300 jobs •cut costs by another $100 million.”
“Chemical Co. will cut 200 to 300 jobs •cut costs by another $100 million.”
“Pharmaceuticals Corp cuts 40 pct of jobs www. reuters.com Advanced Energy to cut 22 pct jobs www. reuters.com Dell cutting jobs in North Carolina, Texas •Dell Inc, the world's No. 2 maker of personal computers, •cut 11000 jobs last fiscal year, www. reuters.com California Teachers”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cut’.
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Film
jidaigeki, samurai, Kurosawa, action, comedy, drama, Bergman, Buñuel, surreal, rotoscope, melodrama, Cinerama and 333 more...
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Public List: Two by Fives
This is an experiment in public lists--something I've been thinking about for some time. The goal is to create a collection of short, powerful, evocative words.
This is an open list. A...icy, howl, hymn, thorn, fire, vile, mist, blunt, scum, dark, shot, gleam and 137 more...
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sound (quiet)
words for quiet sounds
( randomness, descriptive )sigh, murmur, whisper, whir, rustle, patter, hum, snap, hiss(sss), crackle, bleat, peep and 185 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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Nature and Environment
north, east, west, mountain, sea, beach, river, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, island and 205 more...
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The Pain of Texting
Words that are a pain in the ass to type in on a numerical keypad on a cell phone because they have consecutive letters that share the same button:
2 - ABC
3 - DEF
4 - GHI...defcon, hi, no, attitude, xylophone, on, monday, monkey, mono, dig, back, babble and 212 more...
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3 Letter Words
A list of English words that are three letters long.
ace, act, ade, ado, add, ads, age, ago, ail, air, aim, all and 397 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 376 more...
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Computers changed everything
Words that were well established before they gained special use in computing systems.
server, protocol, interface, bug, spam, virus, mouse, program, hack, chip, drive, window and 61 more...
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Pinochle
List of terms used in the card game pinochle, beginning with meld and trick.
meld, trick, widow, widow's hand, talon, kitty, trump, trump suit, bid, contract, run, marriage and 63 more...
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Yo-yo words
Verbs you can both "up" and "down".
Note: I prefer examples where the two senses aren't perfect opposites, e.g. warm up / warm down.dress, hork, trade, wash, scrub, brush, knock, touch, put, shoot, run, throw and 36 more...
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Verbs
edit, delete, get, take, abide, be, catch, wash, watch, fly, eat, sleep and 33 more...
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Technology
forum, profile, identify, register, user, community, sign in, text, address, inbox, key, screen and 53 more...
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Alleyways
Those little walkways between buildings or round the back of cathedrals
vennel, twitten, opes, gitties, jiggers, twitchells, snickelways, chares, jitty, cut, alley
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Words that hurt
A collection of words that inflict pain. If you liked this, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunch_Money_(game)
jab, headbutt, headlock, choke, elbow, grab, kick, slap, roundhouse, spinning backfist, stomp, uppercut and 22 more...

sionnach To renounce acquaintance with anyone is to cut him. There are several species of the cut:
The cut direct: to start across the street at the approach of the obnoxious person in order to avoid him.
The cut indirect: to look another way, and pass without appearing to observe him.
The cut sublime: to admire the top of King's College Chapel, or the beauty of the passing clouds, until he is out of sight.
The cut infernal: to analyze the arrangement of your shoe-strings, for the same purpose. Jul 17, 2009
BrainyBabe Traditionally, every evening sheep are encouraged to rake out (spread far out to graze) on to the fells and moorland, returning to the lower ground by the next morning. The flock ranges over very large areas, ensuring an even grazing of the available ground. Even within a hefted flock there are subgroups - different groups of sheep on different "cuts" of the hill. At the autumn markets these animals are often listed in the sales catalogue under the name of the farm and the cut they belonged to.
From the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic, in The Guardian
Dec 25, 2008
gangerh Stop filming and 'check the gate'. The gate is only checked after filming the 'take' the director wants to print. Jun 12, 2008
reesetee In rare/antique books, an illustration printed within the text or on a text page (rather than on a separate page). Feb 20, 2007
oroboros Contronymic in the sense: remove vs. gain (your share). Jan 27, 2007