Word.ws English Dictionary

cut out

cut out verb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut, out. To sever from something larger, with or as if with a sharp-edged instrument.

Verb

cut out (third-person singular simple present cuts out, present participle cutting out, simple past and past participle cut out)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut, out. To sever from something larger, with or as if with a sharp-edged instrument.
    • Cut out the letters and paste them on the poster.
  2. (informal, transitive) To refrain from (doing something, using something etc.), to stop or cease (doing something).
    • He had to cut out smoking in order to be prepared for the marathon.
    • She kept clicking her heels. He told her to cut it out.
  3. (transitive) To remove; to omit.
    • If we cut out the middle-man, we will both have better profits.
    • Help me find a sharper knife
      I need to cut you out my life2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Jon Levine, Scott Jacoby, “Congratulations”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten
  4. (transitive) To oust; to replace.
    • […] cut him out in the affections of his lady-love!1899, Lady's Realm, volume 5, page 172
  5. (Australia, New Zealand, US) To separate (an animal) from the herd.
    • There was little fear that the navigator of the captured Osprey, the man who had lived in Chile and "cut out" cattle on the Carrum Plains, would prove lacking in knowledge of riding, seamanship, or Spanish customs.1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, IV.2
  6. (intransitive) To stop working, to switch off; (of a person on the telephone etc.) to be inaudible, be disconnected.
    • It was around then that the engine suddenly cut out.
    • Can you say that again? You keep cutting out.
  7. (intransitive) To leave suddenly.
    • He must have cut out of the party.
    • 'True. I told you to take it home with you. It's still there?'
      'Yes, sir.... But I could cut out and be back under the hour—time to do these letters for the post.'1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries
  8. (usually passive voice) To arrange or prepare.
    • He has his work cut out for him.
  9. (transitive) To intercept.
    • As lax as the visitors' defence was, Blackpool's backline was solid. In the first half the Seasiders cut out final balls to Meireles, one of Liverpool's best players, on two occasions and after the break the brilliant Craig Cathcart got enough on his headed clearance to prevent Torres from planting...2011 January 12, Saj Chowdhury, “Liverpool 2 - 1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 16 Feb 2022
  10. To take a ship out of a harbor etc. by getting between her and the shore.
  11. (Australia, intransitive, slang) To serve time in prison as an alternative to paying fines.
  12. (Australia, New Zealand) To spend (money).
    • After the flicks, Les and I cut out what was left of the cone money on a milkshake.1963, Ronald Hugh Morrieson, The Scarecrow, Text Classics, published 2012, page 6

Adjective

cut out (comparative more cut out, superlative most cut out)

  1. (idiomatic) Well suited; appropriate; fit for a particular activity or purpose.
    • I'm not really cut out for camping outdoors. I'm allergic to mosquito bites.
    • We've got our work cut out for us.

cut out meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Persian

cut out in Tamil

தொடரறுவி, வெட்டுரு, தொடரறுகருவி, பிரிப்பகம்

cut out in Malayalam

stop, stop working, fail
നിന്നുപോകുക, പെട്ടെന്നുനിന്നുപോകുക, പ്രവർത്തനംനിലയ്ക്കുക, പ്രവർത്തിക്കാതാകുക, കേടാകുക, നടക്കാതിരിക്കുക

cut out in Persian

stop working, be disconnected
قطع شدن ġat' šodan

Examples of cut out in a sentence

  • Do you think he is cut out for the role of manager?
  • I was cut out to be a jazzman the way the righteous are chosen for the church.1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Don’t Cry, Ma”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A...

Forms of cut out

Verb
third-person singular presentcuts out
present participlecutting out
past participlecut out
pastcut out
Adjective
comparativemore cut out
superlativemost cut out

Words formed from cut out

Questions about cut out

What does cut out mean?
Cut out means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut, out. To sever from something larger, with or as if with a sharp-edged instrument.
What is cut out in Tamil?
Cut out in Tamil is தொடரறுவி, வெட்டுரு, தொடரறுகருவி. See Cut out meaning in Tamil.
How do you use cut out in a sentence?
Do you think he is cut out for the role of manager?
What part of speech is cut out?
Cut out can be a verb or an adjective.
What is the past tense of cut out?
The past tense of cut out is cut out.

Words near cut out in the dictionary

  1. cut one's lucky
  2. cut one's own throat
  3. cut one's stick
  4. cut one's teeth
  5. cut oneself
  6. cut out
  7. cut out of the same cloth
  8. cut out the middleman
  9. cut point
  10. cut points
  11. cut red tape

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cut out (page history and authors); cut out (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cut out (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). 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: en-au-cut out.ogg.

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