Word.ws English Dictionary

cut

/kʌt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/kɐt/

cut verb: to perform an incision on, for example with a knife.

cut: to perform an incision on, for example with a knife
Image: W.carter, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To perform an incision on, for example with a knife.
    • You must cut this flesh from off his breast.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]...
    • Mara: We are forty against four hundred. // Klingon: Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man.1969, Jerome Bixby, “Day of the Dove”, in Star Trek: The Original Series, season 3, episode 7, Culver City, California: Desilu Studios; distributed by Paramount Television, published 1969
  2. (transitive) To divide with a knife, scissors, or another sharp instrument.
    • Would you please cut the cake?
    • Before the whistling winds the vessels fly, / With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way.1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC
  3. (transitive) To form or shape by cutting.
    • I have three diamonds to cut today.
    • Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, / Sit like his grandsire cut in alabasterc. 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]...
  4. (slang, transitive) To wound with a knife.
    • We don't want your money no more. We just going to cut you.1990, Stephen Dobyns, The house on Alexandrine
  5. (intransitive, transitive) 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.
    • I was inspired not to cu-cu-cu-cut / When you told me that you wanna see2023 July 18, Noelle Stockwood [Femtanyl], “PUSH UR T3MPRR”, in CHASER
  6. (ambitransitive, transitive) To deliver a stroke with a whip or like instrument to.
    • “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.”1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
  7. (transitive) To wound or hurt deeply the sensibilities of; to pierce.
    • Sarcasm cuts to the quick.
    • she feared she should laugh to hear an European preach in Tamul , but on the contrary , was cut to the heart by what she heard1829, Elijah Hoole, Personal Narrative of a Mission to the South of India, from 1820 to 1828
  8. (transitive) To castrate or geld.
    • to cut a horse
  9. (transitive) To interfere, as a horse; to strike one foot against the opposite foot or ankle in using the legs.
  10. (intransitive) To admit of incision or severance; to yield to a cutting instrument.
    • The panels of white-wood that cuts like cheese, / But lasts like iron for things like these;1857–1858, Oliver Wendell Holmes [Sr.], “(please specify the page)”, in The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, published 1858, →OCLC
  11. (transitive, social) To separate or omit, in a situation where one was previously associated.
    • Travis was cut from the team.
  12. (transitive, social) To abridge or shorten a work; to remove a portion of a recording during editing.
Show 22 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (transitive, social) To reduce, especially intentionally.
    • They're going to cut salaries by fifteen percent.
    • 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.2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19
  2. (transitive, social) To absent oneself from (a class, an appointment, etc.).
    • I cut fifth period to hang out with Angela.
    • An English tradesman is always solicitous to cut the shop whenever he can do so with impunity.1833, Thomas Hamilton, Men and Manners in America
  3. (intransitive, slang, transitive, social) To leave abruptly.
    • I gotta cut but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?
    • 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 cry2023 September 3, @tamashbean, Twitter, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2024
    Synonyms:
    dip
  4. (transitive, social) To ignore as a social rebuff or snub.
    • After the incident at the dinner party, people started to cut him on the street.
    • 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...1903, Samuel Barber, The Way of All Flesh chapter 73
    Synonyms:
    spear
  5. (intransitive) 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) To edit a film by selecting takes from original footage.
  7. (transitive) 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.
    • Excuse me, do you mind if I cut?!2010 June 8, guy & rOdd, “Brevity”, in gocomics.com
  9. (intransitive) To intersect or cross in such a way as to divide in half or nearly so.
    • This road cuts right through downtown.
    • Neither Joleon Lescott nor Vieira appeared to make any contact with Dyer as he cut between them.2011 January 18, Daniel Taylor, “Manchester City 4 Leicester City 2”, in Guardian Online
  10. (transitive) To make the ball spin sideways by running one's fingers down the side of the ball while bowling it.
  11. (transitive) 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. (intransitive, transitive) To divide a pack of playing cards into two parts, often followed by placing the two parts back together in the opposite order.
    • If you cut then I'll deal.
  14. (slang, transitive) To make, negotiate; to finalise, conclude; to issue.
    • I'll cut a check for you.
    • I didn't deserve it, but he cut me a deal.
  15. (slang, transitive) 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.
  16. (transitive) To exhibit (a figure having some trait).
    • The Bender family cut a very distinct profile.
    • Arsenal were starting to work up a head of steam and Tractor Boys boss Paul Jewell cut an increasingly frustrated figure on the touchline.2011 January 25, Paul Fletcher, “Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (agg. 3-1)”, in BBC
  17. (transitive) To stop, disengage, or cease.
    • The schoolchildren were told to cut the noise.
    • Cut the engines when the plane comes to a halt!
    Synonyms:
    cut out
  18. (transitive) To renounce or give up.
    Synonyms:
    cut out
  19. 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. To lose body mass, aiming to keep muscle but lose body fat.
  21. To perform (an elaborate dancing movement etc.).
    • to cut a caper
    • '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.1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard
  22. (colloquial, intransitive) To run or hurry.
    • ‘Look here, you're nearest his size. Cut up to your rooms and give Ipps your dinner things and a clean shirt for him.’1911, Rudyard Kipling, “The Honours of War”, in A Diversity of Creatures, London: Macmillan and Co., […], published 1917, →OCLC, page 114
    • Now one of us had better cut down to Courtfield on a bike […]1950, Frank Richards, Billy Bunter's Benefit

Adjective

cut (comparative more cut, superlative most cut)

  1. (adjective, error-misspelling, participle) Having been cut.
    • 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...1958 November 7 [1956], Excerpts from "Economic Geography of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region", United States Joint Publications Research Service, →OCLC, page 58
  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. Carved into a shape; not raw.
  4. Played with a horizontal bat to hit the ball backward of point.
  5. Having muscular definition in which individual groups of muscle fibers stand out among larger muscles.
    • Or how 'bout Shane DiMora? Could he possibly get rip-roaring cut this time around?1988, Steve Holman, “Christian Conquers Columbus”, in Ironman, 47 (6): 28-34
    • 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.2010, Bill Geiger, “6-pack Abs in 9 Weeks”, in Reps!, 17:106
  6. (informal) Circumcised or having been the subject of female genital mutilation.
  7. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Upset, angry; emotionally hurt.
    • ‘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.’1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 41
  8. (New Zealand, slang, formerly UK) Intoxicated as a result of drugs or alcohol.
    • I was dev’lish cut—uncommon—been dining with some chaps at Greenwich.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 51, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...

Noun

cut (countable and uncountable, plural cuts)

  1. (figuratively, literal) The act of cutting.
    • He made a fine cut with his sword.
    1. (figuratively, literal) An attack made with a chopping motion of the blade, landing with its edge or point.
    2. (figuratively, literal) A time period when one attempts to lose fat while retaining muscle mass.
  2. (figuratively, literal) The result of cutting.
    • a smooth or clear cut
    1. (figuratively, literal) An opening of a living body resulting from cutting; an incision or wound.
    2. (figuratively, literal) Such a wound through human skin.
      • Look at this cut on my finger!
    3. (figuratively, literal) A notch, passage, or channel made by cutting or digging; a furrow; a groove.
    4. (figuratively, literal) Such a passage dug for a roadway for a paved road or railroad, a canal, a runway, etc.
      • a cut through the hillside for a railroad
      • which great cut or ditch Sesostris […] purposed to have made a great deale wider and deeper.1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC
    5. (figuratively, literal) An artificial channel for marine navigation, as distinguished from a navigable river.
    6. (figuratively, literal) A share or portion of profits.
      • The taxman always gets his cut, and that's fine as long as it's a haircut and not an amputation.
      • The bank robbers disbanded after everyone got their cut of the money.
    7. (figuratively, literal) A decrease or deletion.
      • The boss took a 5% pay cut.
      • The editors went a little crazy making so many cuts.
    8. (figuratively, literal) The manner or style in which a garment, other article of clothing, or sail is fashioned.
      • I like the cut of that suit.
      • I like the cut of that jib.
    9. (figuratively, literal) A slab or slice, especially of meat.
      • That’s our largest cut of meat.
      • Cope pushed away his coffee-cup and asked the young Greek for a cut of pie.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
    10. (figuratively, literal) A standard type of meat portion in butchery.
      • The Vegas Strip is a supposedly new cut of beef.
    11. (figuratively, literal) A batsman's shot played with a swinging motion of the bat, to hit the ball backward of point.
    12. (figuratively, literal) Sideways movement of the ball through the air caused by a fast bowler imparting spin to the ball.
    13. (figuratively, literal) In lawn tennis, etc., a slanting stroke causing the ball to spin and bound irregularly; also, the spin thus given to the ball.
    14. (figuratively, literal) 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.
    15. (especially, figuratively, literal) 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.
    16. (figuratively, literal) A particular version or edit of a film.
      • the director's cut
    17. (figuratively, literal) 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.
    18. (figuratively, literal) The card obtained by dividing the pack.
    19. (figuratively, literal) A deliberate snub, typically a refusal to return a bow or other acknowledgement of acquaintance.
      • Rip called him by name, but the cur snarled, showed his teeth, and passed on. This was an unkind cut indeed.1819, Washington Irving, (Rip Van Winkle)
      • 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.1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC
    20. (figuratively, literal) An unkind act; a cruelty.
    21. (figuratively, slang, literal) An insult.
      • 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?"1966-1969, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
    22. (figuratively, literal) 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.
      • Best cuts: "The Evil Dude," "Kung Fu, Too!" "Mama Love," "New Orleans" (with a punchy vocal by Teresa Brewer).1975, Billboard, volume 87, number 24, page 50
    23. (figuratively, literal) 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.
    24. (figuratively, literal) A haircut.
    25. (figuratively, literal) The partition of a graph’s vertices into two subgroups.
    26. (Internet, figuratively, literal) 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.
    27. (figuratively, literal) A string of railway cars coupled together, shorter than a train.
      • 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; [...].1960 June, “Talking of Trains: The new Margam yard”, in Trains Illustrated, page 323
    28. (figuratively, literal) An engraved block or plate; the impression from such an engraving.
      • a book illustrated with fine cuts
    29. (figuratively, obsolete, literal) A common workhorse; a gelding.
      • He's buy me a whit Cut, forth for to ride1613–1614, 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...
    30. (dated, figuratively, slang, literal) The failure of a college officer or student to be present at any appointed exercise.
    31. (figuratively, literal) A skein of yarn.
      • Two women for stealing 30 cuttes of linen yarn.1632, North Riding Record
    32. (figuratively, slang, uncountable, literal) That which is used to dilute or adulterate a recreational drug.
      • Don't buy his coke: it's full of cut.
    33. (figuratively, literal) A notch shaved into an eyebrow.
    34. (figuratively, slang, literal) A hidden, secluded, or secure place.
      • I'm laying in a cut 'bout to shoot me a mutt1992 September 22, Da Lench Mob, “Guerillas^([sic]) in tha Mist” (track 6), in Guerillas in tha Mist
      • I see Xzibit in the cut, hey, nigga, roll that weed up.2003 January 7, “In da Club” (track 5), in Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent
    35. (figuratively, literal) The range of temperatures used to distill a particular mixture of hydrocarbons from crude oil.
    36. (figuratively, literal) A sleeveless vest worn by members of a motorcycle club.

Interjection

  1. An instruction to cease recording.
    • Near-synonym: scene
    Antonyms:
    action

cut meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

cut in Hindi

to perform an incision
काटना kāṭnā

cut in Tamil

to perform an incision
வெட்டு veṭṭu, நறுக்கு naṟukku, அரி ari, அறு aṟu

cut in Marathi

to cut
कापणे kāpṇe, खांडणे khāṇḍṇe

cut in Urdu

to perform an incision
کاٹنا kāṭnā
More languagesFewer languages
cut in Bengali
কাটা kaṭa
cut in Telugu
విచ్ఛిన్నము vicchinnamu, నరుకు naruku, కోయు kōyu, ఛేదించు chēdiñcu
cut in Malayalam
മുറിക്കുക muṟikkuka, വെട്ടുക veṭṭuka, കണ്ടിക്കുക kaṇṭikkuka, വെട്ട് veṭṭŭ
cut in Kannada
ಕತ್ತರಿಸು kattarisu, ಕ್ಲುಪ್ತ klupta
cut in Punjabi
ਕਟਣਾ kaṭṇā, ਵੱਢਣਾ vaḍḍhaṇā, ਕੱਟਣਾ kaṭṭaṇā, ਕੱਪਣਾ kappaṇā
cut in Gujarati
કાપવું kāpvũ
cut in Odia
କାଟିବା kāṭibā, ଖଣ୍ଡିବା khaṇḍibā
cut in Sanskrit
छिनत्ति chinátti, कृन्तति kṛntáti
cut in Sinhala
කපනවා kapanawā
cut in Assamese
কাটা kata, কটা kota, কাট kat
cut in Nepali
काट्नु kāṭnu, कप्नु kapnu, घाउ ghāu
cut in Tagalog
hiwa
cut in Arabic
قَطَعَ qaṭaʕa, جَرَحَ jaraḥa, قَصَّ qaṣṣa
cut in Malay
potong, memotong, putus, terpotong
cut in Indonesian
potong, memotong
cut in Persian
بریدن boridan
cut in Thai
ตัด dtàt, หั่น hàn, ทอน tɔɔn, ลด lót
cut in Vietnamese
cắt
cut in Myanmar
ညှပ် hnyap, ကိုက် kuik, ဆုန်း hcun:, တစ် tac
Kashmiri
ژَٹُن ċaṭun, ژۆٹمُت ċoṭmut

Examples of cut in a sentence

  • to cut a deal, to cut deals
  • to cut a fantastic deal, to cut a raw deal
  • Drug dealers sometimes cut cocaine with lidocaine.
  • They've made slashing cuts to the budget.
  • 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.2012 May 8, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sami Tamimi, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Random House, →ISBN, page 79:
  • The principle of prioritising longer-distance trains by cutting services to wayside stations (often leading directly to their closure) is not new.2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:

All 40 example sentences with cut

Synonyms of cut

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of cut

Forms of cut

Verb
third-person singular presentcuts
present participlecutting
pastcut
past participlecut
alternative formcvt
past (nonstandard, archaic)cutted
past participle (nonstandard, archaic)cutted
past participle (archaic)cutten
Adjective
comparativemore cut
superlativemost cut
Noun
pluralcuts

Past tense of cut: cut

Plural of cut: cuts

Origin of cut

From Middle English cutten, 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”)). Sometimes instead compared to French couteau, itself from Latin culter (“knife”). Copmare Scots kut, kit (“to cut”)); also 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 Middle English snithen (from snīþan), still attested in dialectal snithe and snead. See snide. The adjective sense of "drunk" (now rare and now usually used in the originally humorous derivative form of half-cut) dates from the 17th century, from cut in the leg or to have cut your leg, a euphemism for being very drunk.

Words formed from cut

Phrases with cut

167 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with cut

26 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cut

What does cut mean?
Cut means to perform an incision on, for example with a knife.
What is cut in Hindi?
Cut in Hindi is काटना (kāṭnā). See Cut meaning in Hindi.
How do you use cut in a sentence?
to cut a deal, to cut deals
What part of speech is cut?
Cut can be a verb, an adjective, a noun or an interjection.
How do you pronounce cut?
Cut is pronounced /kʌt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of cut?
The past tense of cut is cut.

Words near cut in the dictionary

  1. CUSUM
  2. Cusumano
  3. Cusumanos
  4. CUSUMs
  5. Cusworth
  6. cut
  7. cut a caper
  8. cut a dash
  9. cut a deal
  10. cut a feather
  11. cut a figure

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cut (page history and authors); कापणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); కోయు (Telugu) (page history and authors); അറുക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಕತ್ತರಿಸು (Kannada) (page history and authors); کاٹ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); କାଟିବା (Odia) (page history and authors); කපනවා (Sinhala) (page history and authors); कप्नु (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cut.wav, En-us-cut.ogg, En-au-cut.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cut.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cut. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.