Word.ws English Dictionary

cut the rug

cut the rug is the alternative form of cut a rug.

Meaning of cut a rug

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To dance, especially in a vigorous manner and in one of the dance styles of the first half of the twentieth century.
    • Young-generation patrons seem to be as fascinated watching the more mature dancers cut a rug.1991 December 15, Ron Alexander, “A Step Back to Supper Clubs and Swing”, in New York Times, retrieved 15 Sep 2008
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut, a, rug.

Forms of cut the rug

third-person singular presentcuts the rug
present participlecutting the rug
past participlecut the rug
pastcut the rug

Questions about cut the rug

What is cut the rug the alternative form of?
Cut the rug is the alternative form of cut a rug.

Words near cut the rug in the dictionary

  1. cut the ground from under someone's feet
  2. cut the knot
  3. cut the mustard
  4. cut the muster
  5. cut the pigeon wing
  6. cut the rug
  7. cut the shit
  8. cut the umbilical cord
  9. cut throat
  10. cut throats
  11. cut through

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cut the rug (page history and authors); cut a rug (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.

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