cut-out

Noun

cut-out (plural cut-outs)

1. A hole or space produced when something is removed by cutting.
   • a dress with cut-out sides
   • Mr. John L[awrence] Gihon, a well-known photographer, knowing the difficulty which many have experienced in the making and use of the medallions, has made for the trade some very fine medallions and masks or cut-outs of different sizes.1874, Charles W. Hearn, “Medallion and Arch-top Printing”, in The Practical Printer. A Complete Manual of Photographic Printing. […] Containing Full Details concerning All the Styles and Processes of...
2. A piece cut out of something.
   • Unless a boy is a very good carpenter, and has great patience and plenty of time at his command, I cannot advise him to attempt making a built model,—at all events, not until he has formed several cut-outs first. One of these "cut-outs" will serve as a model or form from which he may frame his...1866, William H. G. Kingston, “How to Make a Boy's Boat”, in Edmund Routledge, editor, Routledge's Every Boy's Annual. An Entertaining Miscellany of Original Literature, London; New York, N.Y....
   • When preparing an activity, simply copy the activity cards, cut them apart, and attach them to the cut-outs. If desired, laminate and cut out the assembled cut-outs for extra durability.2007, Joyce Kohfeldt, “Introduction”, in Math Activities Using Colorful Cut-outs: Grade 2, Greensboro, N.C.: Carson-Dellosa Publishing, →ISBN, page 5
   1. A free-standing, rigid print (usually life-sized), often displayed for promotional purposes; a standee.
      • The sentry didn't answer. Taking a closer look at him I realised he wasn't a real sentry but a cut-out sentry, guarding not a real but a cut-out border.2011, Jug Suraiya, “A Career of Pissing People Off”, in JS & the Times of My Life: A Worm's Eye View of Indian Journalism, Chennai: Tranquebar Press, →ISBN
      • The best of friends become the worst of enemies when Barney makes a hilarious attack ad where he viciously pummels a cardboard cut-out of Homer before special guest star Linda Ronstadt joins the fun to both continue the attack on the helpless Homer stand-in and croon a slanderously accurate...2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “The Simpsons (Classic): ‘Mr. Plow’ [season 4, episode 9; originally aired November 19, 1992]”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2016
   2. A kind of cookie produced in a certain shape by use of a cookie cutter.
      • Use a 1½-inch (4 cm) cutter to remove the center of twelve cookies; the cookie centers need the same baking time. Bake all the cookies (including the center cut-outs) for 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are light golden brown.2014, Celine Steen, Tamasin Noyes, Vegan Finger Foods
3. An item of clothing, such as a dress or shoe, designed with portions cut away.
4. A trusted middleman or intermediary, especially in espionage.
   • A cut-out, or intermediary, forms the link between two agents or between an agent and the outside world. He may know very little about the organization and just carry messages, or he may be a liaison officer who is able to answer questions and take decisions; but the important thing is that he...1943 November, Special Operations Executive (UK), “Organization”, in How to be a Spy: The World War II SOE Training Manual (Secret History Files), Toronto, Ont.; Tonawanda, N.Y.: Dundurn Press...
   • In alias, I recruited a fellow who worked for a foreign Communist installation (I thought this was a nice touch) to serve as our go-between, or cutout as it is called in the trade, […]1997, Duane R[amsdell] Clarridge, Digby Diehl, A Spy for All Seasons: My Life in the CIA, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, page 94
5. A piece of clip art.
6. Any of several devices that halt the flow of a current, especially an electric current; a trip-switch or trip.
   • The automatic magnetic cut out, opens the circuit between battery and generator when the generator is running slow or engine is stopped, also referred to as the "vibrator type" of cut out.1916, A[ndrew] L[ee] Dyke, “Instruction No. 27. The Electric Generator: Principle. Construction. Operation. Regulation”, in Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia. … Containing 366 Charts...
   • The semiconductor also enhances regulation of the charging system, the older dynamo being controlled by two or three relay-like devices: 1. a cut-out that disconnects the dynamo from the battery when the generated voltage drops below that of the battery, as is the case when the engine is not...2009, Rick Astley, “Charging System”, in Classic British Car Electrical Systems: Your Guide to Understanding, Repairing and Improving the Electrical Components (The Essential Manual), Dorchester...
7. A switch that changes the current from one circuit to another, or for shortening a circuit.
8. (US) A railway cutting.
9. (US) The separation of a group of cattle from a herd; the place where they are collected.
   • When the stray men have worked the herd, it is drove off a ways and turned loose. The calves in the cut-out groups are then branded and turned loose with their mothers; the strays are thrown into the stray herd or day herd.1958, Fay E. Ward, The Cowboy at Work: All about His Job and How He Does It, with 600 Detail Drawings by the Author, New York, N.Y.: Hastings House, →OCLC, page 24