Did you know?


cut  - definition and synonyms


What are red words?





verb cut pronunciation in British English /kʌt/
Word Forms
present tense
present participlecutting
past tensecut
past participlecut
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  1. 1
    [transitive] to use a knife, pair of scissors, or other sharp tool to divide something into two or more pieces

    I’m going to cut the cake now.

    The telephone wires had been cut.

    cut something in half/two:

    The apples had been cut in half.

    cut something into pieces/quarters/three etc:

    Cut the pepper into small pieces.

    1. a.
      to use a sharp tool to remove a piece from something

      I cut a slice of bread.

      cut someone something:

      Will you cut me a slice of pizza?

      cut something from/off something:

      You should cut that broken branch from the tree.

      cut something in/through something:

      Firemen had to cut a hole in the car roof to get him out.

    2. b.
      to use a sharp tool to make something shorter

      You need to cut your toenails.

      It’s Ken’s turn to cut the grass.

      have/get your hair cut:

      I’m going to have my hair cut tomorrow.

  2. 2
    [intransitive] to be capable of cutting in a particular way

    These scissors don’t cut very well.

    1. a.
      [transitive] to be able to cut a particular substance
  3. 3
    [transitive] to injure a part of your body with something sharp that cuts the skin

    Be careful not to cut your finger.

    Her face was badly cut by flying glass.

  4. 4
    [transitive] to reduce something such as the amount or level of something

    We have cut our spending by 33%.

  5. 5
    [transitive] computing to remove a part of a computer document, especially in order to paste it into another place or document
    See also cut and paste
  6. 6



    cut off


    The accident had cut the oxygen to her brain.

    All lines of communication had been cut.

    Could you cut the engine for a minute?

  7. 7
    [transitive] to make something such as a piece of writing, a speech, a film, or a broadcast shorter by removing parts from it

    You need to cut your speech by about 10 minutes.

    1. a.



      cut out

      to remove parts from something such as a piece of writing, a speech, a film, or a broadcast, especially because they are not suitable

      They have cut some sex scenes from the film.

  8. 8
    [intransitive/transitive] to divide a set of playing cards into two piles
  9. 9
    [transitive] to divide an area into two or more parts

    The River Danube cuts Budapest in two.

  10. 10
    [transitive] music if a musician or band cuts a record, they record it
  11. 11
    [transitive] to reduce the strength or effectiveness of something by mixing it with something else
  12. 12



    cut across

    [transitive] to pass through or across something

    the place where Kings Road cuts the High Street

rat tail


BuzzWord Article

Open Dictionary

speak human


add a word



global English and language change from our blog