| 释义 |
▪ I. cut, n.1|kʌt|
Also cutt, -e.
[Origin and original sense uncertain.
This has been usually regarded as merely a special use of cut n.2 (under which it is still treated in recent dictionaries); but to this identification two considerations are opposed. First, cut ‘the act or result of cutting’ is (like such verbal derivatives generally) a word only of Modern English, known from the 16th c., while cut ‘lot’ goes back before 1300, standing quite alone without any sense of cut n.2 to explain or support it. Secondly, in ME., in the verb cut and its pa. pple., the forms kyt, kit, ket are of constant occurrence, but no such spellings are found for this word, only cut, cutt (cutte). The latter circumstance opposes also any such suggestion as that cut ‘lot’ is an absolute use of the pa. pple. meaning ‘the cut stick or straw’, ‘the cut or marked thing drawn’, a use which would besides be very difficult to admit at so early a date. There is no cognate word, and no derivative from any word meaning ‘cutting’, used in the other Teutonic languages; in these the word lot, with its cognates, is the native term. It is evident that drawing cuts has been from the 13th c. a more popular form of sortilege, or a more popular and colloquial expression for it, than ‘casting lots’. Welsh has cwt ‘a little piece, a cut, a gobbet, a lot’ (Silvan Evans); cwt lot occurs in Salesbury's transl. of the Bible, 1520; and the word has in Welsh the derivatives cwtws lot, lottery-ticket, share, cwtysyn lot, ticket; but it may be from English.]
1. = lot: in the phrase draw cuts, originally draw (or lay) cut, applied to a ready way of casting lots, by the chance drawing of sticks or straws of unequal length.
The simplest and most usual way is to take as many bits of straw, stick, or the like, as there are persons concerned, one of these bits being shorter (or it may be longer) than the others; these being held so that one end only is exposed, each person draws one of the bits for himself, and he who chances to draw the bit differing in length is the person to whom the lot falls. In later use each bit is called a cut, but in earlier use the decisive bit appears as the ‘cut’.
(α) To draw (lay) cut.
a1300Cursor M. 16699 (Cott.) A-bute his kirtel drou þai cutt. a1340Hampole Psalter xxi. 18 On my clathe þai laid kut. c1386Chaucer Pard. T. 465–7, I rede, that cut among us alle We drawe, and let se wher the cut wil falle; And he that hath the cut, with herte blithe Schal renne to the toun. c1440York Myst. xxxv. 293, I rede we drawe cutte for þis coote. Ibid. 295 The schorte cutte schall wynne. 1483Cath. Angl. 88 To drawe Cutte, sortiri. 1533More Apol. xxxvii. Wks. 903/1 Let them draw cut betwene them.
(β) To draw cuts.
1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye p. lviii, They drew cuttes amonge them whiche of theym shulde be kyllyd. 1530Palsgr. 526/2, I drawe lottes, or drawe cuttes, as folkes do for sporte, je joue au court festu [short straw]. 1580Sidney Arcadia (1613) 154 My daughter Mopsa..may draw cuts, and the shortest cut speake first. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 422. 1600 Maides Metam. iv. in Bullen O. Pl. I. 149 Whether shall begin his note? Draw cuttes..content; the longest shall begin. 1641Brome Jov. Crew iii. Wks. 1873 III. 405, I am pussell'd in the choice. Would some sworne Brother..were here to draw a Cut with me. 1653Walton Angler 75, I think it is best to draw cuts and avoid contention..Look, the shortest Cut fals to Coridon. a1745Swift Direct. Servants, Who is to stay at home is to be determined by short and long cuts. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho (1861) 300 We three will draw cuts for the honour of going with him.
†b. The drawing or casting of lots: † with cut or by cut, by lot. Obs.
12..Leges quat. Burgorum liv. (Sc. Stat.), Et sciendum est quod stallangiator nullo tempore potest habere loth cut neque cavyl de aliquo mercimonio cum burgense. a1340Hampole Psalter xv. 6 Strengis..fell as wiþ kut. 1513Douglas æneis i. viii. 27 Be cut or cavil that pleid sone partid was. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 39 Be cut and cavill than till his part fell he.
†2. (One's) lot, fate, fortune; fate or fortune as a ruler of events. Obs.
a1340Hampole Psalter xxx. 18 In þi hend [are] my kuttes. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. cxlv, Hir that has the cuttis two In hand, both of ȝour wele and of ȝour wo. c1450St. Cuthbert 1367 To þe couent he him putt In religioun to prove his cutt. Ibid. 6743 To england felle a sary cutt. 1513Douglas æneis i. iii. 76 Quhilk is by cutt gevin me to bair in hand. 1530Palsgr. 211/2 Cutte or lotte, sort. 1635E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. (1646) 206 You see..how fortunate a cut those Gods have given us, whom wee robbed.
▪ II. cut, n.2|kʌt|
[In branches I–V f. cut v.; in VI elliptical use of the pa. pple.; in VIII the word may be distinct, since the phrase occurs about or before 1400, while the n. otherwise appears only in the 16th c.]
I. Act of cutting.
1. lit.
1808Cobbett Pol. Reg. 25 June 997 The speech is all whet and no cut. It is merely flummery. 1841J. W. Loudon Ladies' Comp. Flower Gard. (ed. 9) 81 The shoot should be cut off with what gardeners call a clean cut.
2. a. A stroke or blow with a sharp-edged instrument, as a knife, sword, etc.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 187 Through this, the wel⁓beloued Brutus stabb'd..This was the most vnkindest cut of all. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. iv. 68 Seeing him give the fellow a barbarous cut with the hatchet. 1889Froude Chiefs of Dunboy v. 55 His face..had been disfigured by a sabre cut.
b. Fencing and Sword exercise. A slashing blow or stroke given with the edge of the weapon (distinguished from a thrust given with the point).
1592G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 140 Cuttes, slashes and foines. 1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 148 Each ‘Cut’ has its ‘Guard’. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop II. i, The broadsword exercise with all the cuts and guards complete.
c. cut and thrust: (a) as n., the act of cutting and thrusting; hand-to-hand struggle; (b) as adj. (the words being hyphened), adapted for both cutting and thrusting; addicted to or connected with cutting and thrusting; also fig.; (c) ellipt. = cut-and-thrust sword.
1760Sterne Tr. Shandy III. iv. 15 Pell mell, helter skelter, ding dong, cut and thrust..have they been trimming it [sc. a jerkin] for me. 1840Thackeray Catherine i, He-devils, sword and pistol, cut and thrust, pell-mell came tumbling into the redoubt! 1843Lytton Last Bar. i. iii, Thanks, but I leave cut and thrust to the gentles. 1846Grote Greece (1862) I. ii. 63 The cut and thrust of actual life.
1763Brit. Mag. IV. 301 My sword with a cut-and-thrust blade. 1820Scott Abbot iv, The word sword comprehended all descriptions, whether back-sword or basket-hilt, cut-and-thrust or rapier. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. ix, That..scowl with which the cut-and-thrust counts, in melodramatic performances, inform each other they will meet again. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) II. 421 The short cut and thrust method of Socrates.
3. a. A sharp stroke or blow with a whip, cane, etc.
1725New Cant. Dict., I took him a Cut cross the Shoulders. 1787‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen (1809) 36 A good smart cut over his [the horse's] right cheek and eye. 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike iii. 29 A cut across the knuckles with his riding-whip. 1886Burton Arab. Nts. (Abr. ed.) I. 296 He sentenced him to receive an hundred cuts with the scourge.
b. pl. Corporal punishment, esp. of schoolchildren. Austral. and N.Z. slang.
1915Bulletin (Sydney) 28 Oct. 47/1 ‘Six cuts yer give him,’ roared the whiskers... The stick emphasized the last remark by a rapid descent on the meek one's shoulders. 1938P. Lawlor House of Templemore xi. 123 'Urry or yer'l git th' cuts. 1945F. Sargeson When Wind Blows ii. 14 [You] would get the cuts for sure. 1963D. Adsett Magpie Sings 57 If anyone was careless enough to use the wrong peg, their coat, hat and bag could be thrown to the floor without fear of getting the cuts.
4. fig. An act whereby the feelings are deeply wounded, as a sarcasm, an act of unkindness, etc.; a severe disaster or misfortune; a blow, shock.
1568C. Watson Polyb. 65 a, The Romans..acknowledged this their simple cutte and sore repulse. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 173. 1635 R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. iii. 15 A most cruel cut to a troubled conscience. 1766Goody Two-Shoes ii. vii. (1881) 136 This was a Cut to a Man of his imperious Disposition. 1889E. Bagshaw Advent Pastoral 17 Contemptuous cuts and disparaging words.
5. An excision or omission of a part.
1604Middleton Father Hubbard's T. Wks. (1886) VIII. 77 He must venture..to the Bankside, where he must sit out the breaking-up of a comedy, or the first cut of a tragedy. 1779Sheridan Critic ii. ii, Hey day! here's a cut! What, are all the mutual protestations out? 1880Sat. Rev. 1 May 568 The piece..will perhaps have a still better effect if the cuts which we have suggested are made.
6. The act of ‘cutting down’; a reduction in rates or prices; also, a reduction in wages, supplies, services, etc. orig. U.S.
1881Chicago Times 17 June, Supplemented by a still further ‘cut’ of two cents. 1888Times 13 Nov. 5/1 (Philadelphia) Stocks declined to-day because of a radical cut in the freight rates between Chicago and the sea-board. 1921Daily Herald 29 Apr. 1/4 The L.C.C. do not contemplate any immediate cuts in their tramway service. 1946Daily Tel. 27 Mar., A statement of unusual gloom emanated from the Food Ministry..prophesying a fresh ‘cut’ in the soap and margarine rations. 1968R. Harris Nice Girl's Story ii. 14 The gas..flickered blue and cold. ‘There's some kind of a cut, I think...’ 1971Daily Tel. 18 Feb. 15/2 It is still not known how much next year's cut of 10,000 in the total of 180,000 assisted passages..will affect candidates from Britain.
7. The act of ‘cutting’ by a horse: see cut v. 27: the part of the leg injured by cutting.
1688Lond. Gaz. No. 2376/4 A brown Gelding..cuts on the Speedy cut of both his Fore-Legs. 1865Youatt Horse xvi. (1872) 371 The inside of the leg, immediately under the knee..is subject to injury from what is termed the speedy cut.
8. Card-playing. The act of cutting a pack of cards; the card obtained by cutting. † new cut: name of some game at cards (obs.).
1598Florio, Trinca, a game at cards called swig or new cut. 1728Swift Jrnl. Mod. Lady, The deal, the shuffle, and the cut. 1860Crawley Handy Bk. Games 324 Should a card be exposed, there must be a fresh cut, the dealer having the option of shuffling them before the next cut. Not fewer than four cards are considered a cut.
9. A step in dancing: see cut v. 30.
1676G. Etherege Man of Mode v. ii, No one woman is worth the loss of a cut in a caper. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. xiv, Performed sundry new cuts with his feet. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 62/2 Single shuffle, double shuffle, cut and cross-cut. 1892Mrs. H. Ward D. Grieve viii, David stopped his cut and shuffle.
10. A particular stroke in various games with balls:
a. Cricket. The stroke described s.v. cut v. 31 a.
b. Lawn Tennis. The stroke described s.v. cut v. 31 b; also the ‘screw’ put on the ball by this stroke.
c. Croquet. A stroke in which a ball is driven away obliquely by another ball.
d. Rackets. A ball served so that it strikes upon or below the ‘cut-line’, which is a fault.
1833Gentl. Mag. July 44/2 Beldham was great in every hit, but his peculiar glory was the cut. 1855Stonehenge Brit. Sports (1868) 568 The main difference is between the perpendicular cut to leg and the horizontal one to off side. 1874J. D. Heath Croquet Player 33 More force will be required to send a ball a given distance by a cut, than when it is rushed in a straight line. 1874Field 15 Aug., Good balls always bound, except when they have that cut on which W. H. E. evidently dislikes. 1878J. Marshall Lawn Tennis 37 The cut will also be found very useful in the service. 1888Steel & Lyttelton Cricket (Badm. Libr.) 61–2 The real genuine cut goes to the left side of point..When the player is well in..he very often makes..a clean cut; that is to say, he hits with a bat quite horizontal to the ball, and not over it.
11. Gun-making. Each of the various processes through which the several limbs of the gun pass.
1881Greener Gun 270 In some arms upwards of 1,000 separate cuts have to be made to complete each gun, to say nothing of drilling the various holes.
12. colloq.
a. The act of ‘cutting’ or refusing to recognize an acquaintance.
1798[see cuttee]. 1829Anniversary, Travelled Monkey 133 That look which London calls a cut, Our traveller on his cousin put. 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs ii. (D.), We met and gave each other the cut direct that night. 1862Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) V. xliv. 268 The Cut, the last resource of sullenness and shyness is, I believe, a strictly English institution.
b. Intentional absence from or deliberate omission to attend (an event). Cf. cut v. 33 c.
1851B. H. Hall College Words 90 Cut, an omission of a recitation. 1856Ibid. (ed. 2) 147 Cuts. When a class [at Bowdoin College] for any reason become dissatisfied with one of the Faculty, they absent themselves from his recitation, as an expression of their feelings. 1915Dialect Notes IV. 233 Cut, unexcused absence from class. 1919W. T. Grenfell Labrador Doctor (1920) ii. 22 Attendance at chapel was compulsory, and no ‘cuts’ were allowed.
13. (See quot.)
1879Scribner's Mag. XIX. 327/1 Often in storms a strong swift current runs along the coast between the outer bar and the shore, called by the surfmen the ‘set’ or ‘cut’.
†14. Irish Hist. A levy of money, a tax, an impost: cf. cut v. 35. Obs.
1634–5Stat. Ireland (1765) II. 169 To that end doe make cuts, levies and plotments upon themselves to pay them.
15. Cinemat. A quick transition from one shot to the next (see also quot. 1940). Cf. cut v. 21 e.
1933I. Dalrymple in A. Brunel Filmcraft 174 Don't ignore the stunt or effect cut. 1933M. Hankinson Ibid. 225 A cut is always made between the second and third sprocket-holes of a frame..on the action and parallel on the track..because..the ordinary joining machine loses two sprocket-holes on each bit of film it joins. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 217/2 Cut, the junction between one strip of continuous film of motion-picture and the next. 1944S. Cole Film Editing 10 In similar circumstances such a cut would be acceptable even without any sound at all. 1959Viewpoint July 19 A straight ‘cut’ instead of the conventional ‘fade’ helped to achieve a startling visual jerk. 1961G. Millerson Telev. Production 298 The cut is the simplest transition—an immediate change from one shot to the next.
II.
16. a. A passage, course, or way straight across; esp. as opposed to going round a corner or by a circuitous route. Also concr., and fig.
1577–87Harrison Descr. Brit. ii. 3 in Holinshed, The shortest and most usuall cut that we have out of our Iland to the Maine is from Dover..unto Calice. 1581Savile Tacitus' Hist. i. xxxi. (1591) 19 Tired and sick with so long a cut [longa navigatione]. 1600Holland Livy xxxii. xxiii. 824 Whence the passage over to Corinth is a cut [trajectus] almost of seven miles. 1637Heywood Dial. xv. Wks. 1874 VI. 233 So long a cut Must I take pains to waft thee. 1831A. Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Administ. (1837) II. 174 The cut across the fields is shut up. 1883Parker Tyne Childe 273 One of those rhetoricians who would take any cut to a climax.
b. esp. in short cut, a crossing that shortens the distance. abstr. and concr., lit. and fig.
1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 70 He..hauing the winde fauourable, made a short cut. c1590Marlowe Faust. iii. 52 The shortest cut for conjuring Is stoutly to abjure the Trinity. 1601Holland Pliny I. 63 The shortest cut into Greece. 1658W. Burton Itin. Anton. 114 The way is not alwaies by the shortest cut. 1866Argyll Reign Law vii. (ed. 4) 363 There are no short cuts in Nature. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. xi. 311 A short cut across the fields..was made for the convenience of the inhabitants.
c. Also near cut. (Still common in Sc.)
1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 1115 Hee..now leades them the nearest cut to Jericho. 1673E. Brown Trav. Germ. (1677) 2 The nearest cut out of England into Holland is from Laistoffe Point to Gravesandt. 1783Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) iv. s.v. Anaxagoras, There is a near cut to heaven from every place. 1801Gabrielli Myst. Husb. II. 135 He set forward, taking, for expedition, all the nearest cuts. 1803M. Venzee Fate 42 The old man..had arrived before me, by a nearer cut in the wood.
III. 17. a. The shape to which, or style in which a thing is cut; fashion, shape (of clothes, hair, etc.). spec. Short for hair-cut, used esp. with defining word.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 152 With costly attyre of the newe cut. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 155 With eyes seuere, and beard of formall cut. c1684Frost of 1683–4. 19 The cuts were diamond, the substance ice. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 15 You see how the Files of several Cuts succeed each other. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 138 ⁋5 Wearing a gown always of the same cut and colour. 1805Naval Chron. XV. 125 From the cut of her sails an enemy. 1883S. C. Hall Retrospect II. 187 A broad-brimmed hat and coat of Quakerish cut. 1951N. Marsh Opening Night iv. 90 I'm a shoulder-length natural ash-blonde and I've had to have an urchin cut and go black. 1953Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Yr. 639/2 Fashion produced the Pony-Tail and the Poodle-Cut, two hairstyles for women. 1960Sunday Express 14 Aug. 12/4 The short cut..was made for me. Ibid. 23 Oct. 14/3 One guinea for a ‘cut’.
b. fig. Fashion, style, make.
1590Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. C ij b, A right cutte of the worde, without gigges or fancies. 1602–3Manningham in Eng. Illust. Mag. Mar. (1884) 368/2 A young gallant, but of a short cutt. 1628Prynne Love-lockes 25 Others of the common ranke and cut. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 171 My good mother was one of this old fashioned cut. 1856Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 307 These Londoners are all of the cut of this woman.
c. the cut of one's jib: one's general appearance or look. slang, orig. nautical: see jib.
1823Southey in Life & Corr. V. 144 Their likeability, which depends something upon the cut of their jib. 1833Marryat P. Simple ii, I see you're a sailor by the cut of your jib. 1881R. Buchanan God & Man ii. iii, I like the cut of your jib less than ever.
18. Phrase. a cut above (some person or thing): a degree or stage above. colloq.
[1797Lamb Lett. (1888) I. 78 There is much abstruse science in it above my cut.] 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xvi, Robertson is rather a cut abune me. 1842Marryat Percival Keene i, She was..a cut above the housekeeper in the still⁓room. 1891L. B. Walford Mischief of Monica xi, The girl herself is a cut below par.
IV. The result, effect, or product of cutting.
19. An opening in a surface made by a sharp-edged instrument, an incision; a wound made by cutting, a gash.
1530Palsgr. 211/2 Cutte, a wounde, covppevre. 1557N. T. (Genev.) Matt. ix. 16 The cutte is made worse. 1618N. Field Amends for Ladies iii. iv, How came they by such cuts and slashes? 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. ix. 215 Two or three of the men had cuts in their backs and thighs. 1830Cooper Dict. Surgery (ed. 6) 1269 When the wound is a common cut, the sides of the division ought to be brought in contact.
20. An incision made in the edge of a garment, etc., for ornament; a slash; a natural indentation, as in the edge of a leaf.
1563Homilies ii. Excess of Apparel (1859) 313 While one spendeth his patrimony upon pounces and cuts. 1578Lyte Dodoens ii. lxxxiii. 261 Sauing that euery little leafe his cuttes are a great deale narrower. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. iv. 19 Cloth a gold and cuts, and lac'd with siluer. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. vi. (1851) 126 She might go jagg'd in as many cuts and slashes as she pleas'd. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. xiii. 277 The habit..with..cuts and slashes almost on every side.
21. A passage or channel:
a. An artificial watercourse cut or dug out; a channel, canal, cutting. (In common use in the Fen district in England.)
1548Petit. of Sandwich in Boys Sandwich (1792) 735 To authorize the said mayor..and inhabitants..to cut out, newe erect and make one newe cutt into their said haven. 1570Act 13 Eliz. c. 18 Preamb., The Leading and Passage of the said Water, thorough such a..Cut, as may serve for the Navigation of Barges. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 89 Invironed with a nauigable ditch or cut. 1696Phil. Trans. XIX. 344 Through these Fens run great Cuts or Dreyns. 1803G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 20 To make a..navigable cut from the Red Sea to the Nile. 1893Act 36–7 Vict. c. 71 §58 Any watercourse, mill race, cut, leat, or other channel for conveying water..from any river.
†b. A natural narrow opening or passage by water; a channel or strait.
1598R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. v. ii. (1622) 119 Hastening ouer the Toronæan and Thermean cut, and passing by Eubœa. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. ii. 203 Mona whereof Cæsar maketh mention, in the mids of the Cut..betweene Britaine and Ireland. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. viii. 77 As it were but a narrow cut to ferry over. 1678tr. Gaya's Art of War ii. 102 The Castle of Salses, on the Cut of the Sea.
c. A creek or inlet. Now local.
1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 456 The Country is full of cuts and inlets from this River. 1727Beverley Beck Act 1 A Creek or Cut, commonly called Beverley Beck. 1890M. Townsend U.S. 137 Cut, used on the eastern shore of Florida as synonymous with inlet.
d. A passage cut as a roadway through a rock, wood, dense part of a city, etc.; a railway cutting.
1730Sir H. Sloane in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 261 Having again continued our Journey under Ground in the Salt-work, we then found ourselves in the Cuts. 1789Ess. Shooting (1791) 300 The sportsman may..watch at some opening, or cut which runs through the wood. 1881Chicago Times 12 Mar., The snow is six feet in the cuts. 1881Scribner's Mag. XXII. 528/2 On the left are cuts and tunnels.
e. Theatr. A narrow longitudinal opening, cut in the flooring of the stage, by which scenes are moved up and down.
1859Sala Gas-light & D. ii. 23 On this frame the scene to be painted is placed; and..worked up and down the cut as the painter may require. 1881L. Wagner Pantomimes 55 The visitor will discern what are called the cuts in the flooring of the stage..When required these cuts are opened..for the passage of the scenes to be sent up.
22. a. A design cut or engraved upon wood, copper, or steel; the impression from this; an engraving, a plate. Now restricted to engravings on wood (see woodcut), those on metal being called plates.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 258 Set forth in the Icons or Cuts of Martyrs by Cevallerius. 1662Evelyn Chalcogr. 23 The Invention of Copper-cuts, and their Impressions. Ibid. 84 With some other cuts in wood known by his mark..All those excellent Wood Cuts. 1695Lond. Gaz. No. 3131/3 The Cutts of the University..richly bound, and Printed in Folio at the Theatre. 1710Hearne Collect. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) III. 17 The wooden Cutts of the actors. 1781Crabbe Library Wks. 1834 II. 39 Bibles, with cuts and comments. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. I. 253 The cuts to this edition are better executed. 1885Mag. of Art Sept. 449/1 A glance at our first two cuts will give an idea of their position.
b. A gramophone record or recording. Cf. cut v. 23 d. orig. U.S.
1949Music Libr. Assoc. Notes Dec. 42 A recording artist cuts a master and the recording executive may reject the cut. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio 247 Cut,..one of several separately recorded bands..on a disc. 1970New Yorker 12 Dec. 182/2 These two cuts, along with..‘Little Sadie’, showed promise of saying something interesting.
†23. A carving. Obs. rare.
1658Hist. Q. Christina 264 The Church of St. Francis..with noble statues, embossed works, and infinite cuts of Greeke marble.
V. A piece cut off.
24. a. A piece of anything cut off; esp. of meat, a slice.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Tajada, a cut of flesh, a slice of bread. 1641Peacham Worth of Penny in Arb. Garner VI. 265 The worst and first cut, as of boiled beef. 1737Johnson in Boswell, I had a cut of meat for sixpence, and bread for a penny. 1864D. G. Mitchell Sev. Stor. 52 Perhaps we can take a cut off the same joint.
†b. A slice of meat as a slight meal. Cf. cold cuts. U.S. Obs.
1770Washington Diary 9 June (1925) I. 383 Had a cold cut at Mrs. Campbell's. 1773Ibid. 21 Feb. II. 102 [They] calld here, but would not stay dinner, taking a Cut before it. 1816U. Brown Jrnl. 24 Sept. in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1916) XI. 230 At last comes to an Orniary [sc. Ordinary], fed & took a cut. 1827Cincinnati Enquirer 15 Aug. 2/5 A cold cut at Utica.
c. A number of sheep or cattle cut out from the flock or herd. U.S., Austral., and N.Z.
1888Roosevelt in Century Mag. Apr. 860/2 As the animals of a brand are cut out they are received and held apart by some rider detailed for the purpose, who is said to be ‘holding the cut’. 1907S. E. White Arizona Nights i. vi. 112 The round-up Captain appointed two men to hold the cow-and-calf cut, and two more to hold the steer cut. 1933E. Jones Autobiogr. Early Settler xxi. 93 [They] took a small cut of twenty or thirty sheep up to the river. 1953B. Stronach Musterer on Molesworth x. 68 At last we got a small cut of our mob [of cattle] over [the bridge] and the rest was easy.
d. slang. Share (of profit, etc.); commission; = rake-off. orig. U.S.
1918H. C. Witwer Baseball to Boches ix. 363 If you get nailed we'll give your wife a cut of our winnin's! 1940Wodehouse Quick Service xii. 101, I don't mind giving Howard Steptoe his cut, but..five hundred pounds has got to be earmarked for me. 1957W. H. Whyte Organization Man 282 The real money would come from..the company's cut..of every dollar spent in the shopping center. 1970New York III. 30 Nov. 28/3 The net proceeds of a $2 million stock offering after the underwriter had taken his cut.
25. A piece of cloth of definite length cut from a warp.
1753Hanway Trav. (1762) I. iii. xxvii. 113 The present..consisting of several cuts of fine cloth. 1891Labour Commission Gloss., Cuts, sometimes called ‘ends’, are pieces of cloth of a certain length (generally of or about 100 yards) cut from a warp.
26. A certain quantity of yarn; properly containing 120 rounds of the legal reel, and 91 inches long. (Sc. and north. Eng.)
1632N. Riding Rec. (1885) III. ii. 194 Two women for stealing 30 cuttes of linen yarn. 1726Ibid. VIII. 174 Linen yarne..must be ‘good and full tale of six score threads to the cutt’. 1791Statist. Acc. Roxburghsh. (Galashiels) II. 308 (Jam.) A stone of the finest [wool].. will yield 32 slips of yarn, each containing 12 cuts, and each cut being 120 rounds of the legal reel. 1840M. Edgeworth Parent's Assistant (1854) 341 Mary spun nine cuts a day besides doing all that was to be done in the house.
27. The quantity cut (of a nautral product, esp. timber). Chiefly U.S.
1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. (1807) II. 360 A medium crop for the first cut. 1878Lumberman's Gaz. 16 Mar., The cut of this year exceeded the cut of last year by at least 20 per cent. 1890Times 22 Sept. 4/2 The cut of violet clovers in France is not likely to be large.
28. (See quot. 1890.) Also, a portion of a field cut, or intended for cutting, at one time. U.S.
1765Washington Diary 6 Nov. (1925) I. 216 Finishd sowing Wheat at the Mill—viz 19 Bushls. in ye large cut within the Post and Rail fence and 6 B. in ye small cut. 1770Ibid. 14 Sept. 399 Morris at Doeg Run began to sow his third Cut of Wheat. 1855G. N. Jones Florida Plant. Rec. (1927) 132 The Cotton in the lower most cut of prelow will avrige knee high, the next two cutes will not avrige quit wast high. 1890Dialect Notes (Boston), Kentucky words ii. 64 Cut, with tobacco raisers..a portion of a tobacco field. ‘Did you finish worming that cut you were on?’
VI. Substantive uses of the pa. pple.
†29. ‘A familiar expression for a common or labouring horse’ (Nares). Obs. [It is doubtful whether the sense is ‘cut-tail horse’ or ‘gelding’.]
1526Skelton Magnyf. 296 In fayth, I set not by the worlde two Dauncaster cuttys. 1577Whetstone Remembr. Gascoigne in Steel Gl. (Arb.) 24 The Colliers cut, the Courtiars Steed will tire. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. i. 6, I prethee Tom, beate Cuts Saddle..the poore Iade is wrung in the withers. 1612Two Noble K. iii. iv, He's buy me a white cut, forth for to ride.
†30. A term of abuse, applied to a man or woman. Obs. or dial.[Perh. from prec. sense: with Call me cut, cf. Falstaff's ‘call me horse’ in 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 215. As applied to a woman, app. more opprobrious: cf. cutty.] c1490H. Medwall Nature, If thou se hym not take hys owne way Call me cut when thou metest me another day. 1575J. Still Gamm. Gurton v. ii, That lying cut is lost, that she is not swinged and beaten. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iii. 203 If thou hast her not i' the end, call me Cut. 1605Lond. Prodigal C ij b, And I doe not meete him, chill giue you leaue to call me cut. 1725New Cant. Dict., A Cut in some Northern Counties..signifies a Strumpet. 1820Scott Abbot xix, ‘You shall call me cutt if I do go down’, said Adam.
†31.
a. Gunnery. A short cannon of any calibre.
1672Compleat Gunner i. vii. 9 Bastard Pieces are shorter chases..and are therefore called Cuts of the same nature of the Piece they agree with in the bore; as those of Demi-Culverin bore, are called Demi-Culverin Cuts, etc.
b. Gaming. (pl.) = Cut dice; dice made of irregular shape for cheating. Obs.
1711Puckle Club 21 note, At dice they have the doctors, the fulloms, loaded dice, flats, bars, cuts.
†32. A kind of blanket: see quot. Obs.
1677Plot Nat. Hist. Oxfordshire 279 Of their best tail wooll they make the blankets of 6 quarters broad, commonly called cuts, which serve Sea-men for their Hammocs.
33. pl. Persons who have ‘cut’ each other, i.e. renounced each other's acquaintance. colloq.
1871Daily News 13 Feb., Bismarck and ‘our Fritz’, are very nearly what schoolboys call ‘cuts.’ 1880Times 21 Sept. 4/1 People who leave Southampton the best of friends and arrive in Bombay dead cuts.
VII. †34. Falconry. (Of uncertain history. See quot.)
1611Cotgr., Cousteau.. the principall feather in a Hawkes wing, tearmed by our Faulkoners (in short-winged Hawkes) the Cut, or Cuttie.
VIII. †35. Phrase. to keep one's cut, keep cut: a phrase of obscure origin, meaning something like: ‘To keep one's distance, be coy or reserved’. Most of the later occurrences appear to refer to Skelton's Phyllyp Sparrowe, or at least to have the same origin. Obs.[The variant fend cut suggests a fencing phrase: but there is the great difficulty, referred to above, of the early date of the phrase, which makes it doubtful whether it really belongs to this word; and its place here must be considered as merely provisional.] a1400Cov. Myst., Woman taken in Adultery 148 Com forth, thou sloveyn! com forthe, thou slutte! We xal the teche with carys colde, A lytyl bettyr to kepe thi kutte. 1421–2Hoccleve Dial. 789 If..some of hem thee ther-of vpbreide, Thow [Hoccleve] shalt be bisy ynow..Thy kut to keepe. a1529Skelton P. Sparowe 118 It wold syt on a stole And lerned after my scole For to kepe his cut, With, Phyllyp, kepe youre cut. a1577Gascoigne Praise P. Sparrow Wks. (1587) 285 As if you say but fend cut Phip, Lord, how the peat will turne and skip. 1581Sidney Astr. & Stella lxxxiii, Good brother Philip..craftily you seem'd your cut to keepe, As though that faire soft hand did you great wrong. a1627Middleton More Dissemblers i. iv, O that a boy should so keep cut with his mother, and be given to dissembling. 1632Brome North. Lasse iii. ii, And Philip 'twas my Sparrow..Chirp it would, And hop, and fly to fist, Keepe cut, as 'twere a Vsurers Gold, And bill me when I list. a1652― New Acad. iv. i, But look how she turnes and keeps cut like my Sparrow.
IX.
36. Comb., a. with advbs., as cut-down, a reduction in wages (cf. cut v. 54); see also cut-in, cut-off, cut-out, cut-up; b. † cut-beaten a., beaten with cuts or strokes of a whip, etc.; cut-heal, name for a species of valerian; cut-line Rackets, (a) a line painted on the front wall about the height of 9 ft. 6 in. from the floor, above which the ball must be served; (b) (see quot. 1912); (c) descriptive wording below an illustration; cut-looker (Weaving), see quot.; cut-mark (Weaving), see quot.; cut-over, a sharp cut or stroke over the legs, etc. (cf. cut v. 58 c); † cut-painted a., adorned with cuts or gashes, tattooed; cut-side, the side of a canal or of a railway cutting; cut-through, an act of cutting through; spec. in Rugby Football (Webster, 1934); cf. cut v. 18 b.
1634S. R. Noble Soldier ii. i, I'de make thee roare And weare *cut-beaten-sattyn.
1888Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 30 July 2/3 Strike against a *cut-down. 1892in N.Y. Nation 11 Aug. 100/3 No cut-down in wages.
1863Prior Plant-n., *Cut-heal, the valerian. 1878–86Britten & Holland Plant-n., Cut-heal, Valeriana officinalis according to Prior, but more likely V. pyrenaica.
1883Encycl. Brit. XX. 210/1 Another white line across the front wall, termed the ‘*cut line’, because the in-player, when serving, must first make the ball rebound from the front wall above this line. 1912M. Drake Eng. Glass-painting 183 The panes composing it [sc. the panel] should be laid in their places on a sheet of paper and their outlines traced by a pencil run round their edges. This sheet of paper will serve the glazier as a ‘cut-line’ drawing when the panels are handed to him for re-leading. 1923― Doom Window xxv. 290 Cartoons began to be completed, and Reinecke and Sophie now made the cut-line drawings. 1938L. M. Harrod Librarians' Gloss. 54 Cut line, matter appearing below an illustration. More often called a ‘caption’. 1964H. Waugh Missing Man xi. 48 Betty Moore's picture ran two columns wide on the front pages with the cutlines describing her as the ‘widowed beauty’.
1891Labour Commission Gloss., *Cut-looker, the person who examines and is held responsible for the work produced by the weaver. A cut or piece means a given length of calico.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., *Cut-mark, a mark made upon a set of warp-threads before placing on the warp-beam of the loom, to mark off a certain definite length.
1874G. W. Dasent Half a Life I. 155 The marks of kicks and *cuts over at hockey.
1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. 1239 They couered their *Cut-painted bodies with Garments.
1870Birm. Town Crier IX. No. 13. 8/1 Walk along the *cutside, and chuck pebbles over the summit bridge.
1960Times 28 Dec. 4/4 Leicester were in trouble again after a *cut-through by Jeeps. 1962Ibid. 2 Mar. 4/2 There was a fast, weaving cut-through by Watkins.
▪ III. cut, v.|kʌt|
Forms: 3 cute, 4 kot, kuytte, 4–5 kut, kutt(e, kytt(e, kitt(e, 5 kette, cytte, 5–6 kyt, kit, 5–7 cutt(e, 6– cut. pa. tense α. 3–5 cutt(e, 4– cut; also 4 kut, kit, citte, 4–5 kutte, kytte, kitte, 5 kyt; β. 4 kittide, kottede, 5 cutted, (pl.) kuttiden, 6 Sc. cuttit. pa. pple. α. 4 kit, kitt(e, ikett, 4–5 kut, kutt(e, y-kyt(t, 4–6 cutte, 4–7 cutt, 5 y-kitt, ykette, 5–6 kyt, 5– cut; β. 4 kytted, kittid, 4–6 cuttid, 4–7 (9 dial.) cutted, 5 cuttyd, -ede, 6 Sc. cuttit.
[c gray][Found in end of 13th c., and in common use since the 14th c., being the proper word for the action in question, for which OE. used sníðan, ceorfan. The phonology is doubtful; the early variants cutte, kitte, kette, with pa. pple. cut, kyt, kit, kett, are parallel to the early variants of shut, OE. scyttan, and point to *cyttan, kytten (from *cutian) as the original form, an earlier y (y[/c]), having here, as in shut and other words, given later u (now ʌ). The word is not recorded in OE. (nor in any WGer. dialect), and there is no corresponding verb in Romanic. Mod. Norwegian kutte = skjære to cut (chiefly used by sailors) is certainly adopted from English; but a verb kåta, (kutå) = skära, hugga to cut, is widely diffused in Swedish dialects, and app. an old word, from an OTeut. stem *kut-, *kot-, which is probably the source also of the Eng. vb., whatever the intermediate history of the latter.
A conjectured derivation of cut from Welsh cwta ‘short’ is in the opinion of Prof. Rhŷs quite untenable. Neither cwta nor any of its derivatives have any relation whatever to the use of a knife or other cutting instrument; while the South Wales cwt = cut, gash, e.g. in the hand, is a mere adoption of the Eng. n.]
I. To make incision in or into.
1. a. trans. To penetrate with an edged instrument which severs the continuity of the substance; to wound or injure with a sharp-edged instrument; to make incision in; to gash, slash.
c1275Lay. 30581 He cutte [1205 nom] his owe þeh.. þar of he makede breade [= roast]. c1330Arth. & Merl. 392 Ther was mani throte y-kitt. 1382Wyclif Isa. xxxvii. 1 He kutte [1388 to rente] his clothis, and wrappid is with a sac. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) 122 At the laste he kitte his owen throte. 1502Arnolde Chron. (1811) 165 Kyt it wyth a knyf and late it be opened. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 278 Cutte me, burne me, launce me. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 196 The ordinary tricke of cutting and slashing their skin. 1694Congreve Double Dealer i. v, Cut a diamond with a diamond. 1779Gentl. Mag. XLIX. 466 No lives were lost in the riot, though one or two of the country people were cut. 1830Cooper Dict. Surgery (ed. 6) 826 He [Cheselden] cut another part of the bladder. 1885Truth 11 June 921/1 A detective..cut the boy's head open by knocking it against a lamp-post. Mod. Who has cut the table-cloth?
b. Predicated also of the edged instrument or material (a knife, glass, etc.); also transf. of keen cold wind, frost, or the like.
1738Swift Pol. Conversat. iii. 198 Sharp's the Word with her; Diamonds cut Diamonds.
2. absol. or intr.
a. To make incision. With various preps. as in, through, etc., or adv. or adj. complement.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 280 For if the Iew do cut but deepe enough, Ile pay it instantly, with all my heart. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 190 Cut close to the Stem. 1830Cooper Dict. Surgery (ed. 6) 825 Cheselden thought it unnecessary to cut on the groove of the staff. 1833A. Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Administ. (1837) II. 319 [The late Parliament] excised the cancer, and it did not cut deep enough. 1861Mill Utilit. (1862) 84 Any attempt on their part to cut finer.
b. Said of the instrument; also transf. and fig. to cut both (or two) ways, to have a double or mixed effect; to have both favourable and unfavourable aspects or implications.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 32 (MS. B.) Cold matere streyneþ, drye matere kutteþ. Ibid. 127 (MS. A.), & þis schave schal kutte on þe side þat foldiþ ynward & it schal be blunt on þe oon side þat is outward. 1605Hickeringill Priest-cr. ii. Pref. A iij b, Fame, like a two-edg'd Sword, does cut both ways. a1633G. Herbert Jacula Prudentum, The tongue is not steel, yet it cuts. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. vi. §8 Edged tools are in general designed to cut. 1830Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) I. 290 Whether the razor did or did not cut well. 1854J. C. Rutter Let. 23 May in M. Lutyens Millais & Ruskins (1967) 192 What you state about the Woman's Brain..might cut both ways..might not the irritant arise from want of consummation? 1866[see double-edged a.]. 1935Discovery Oct. 313/1 Clever arguments cut two ways.
c. With complement (prep., adv., or adj.).
1713Addison Cato i. vi, Tormenting thought! it cuts into my soul. 1809Cobbett Pol. Reg. 25 Mar. 421 The argument..cuts deeper against him than for him. 1888Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch I. i. 7 The bullet cut through his enemy.
d. intr. in pass. sense. To suffer incision, admit of being cut: see 13.
3. To strike sharply with a whip, a thin stick or the like; to lash. Also said of the whip, etc. trans. and absol.
1607Dekker & Webster Westw. Hoe v. i, I cut hym ouer the thumbs thus. 1765Ann. Reg. 278 In rugged ways, the reins and steeds Alone the skilful driver heeds, Nor stays to cut behind. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xix. 275 He cut at..the hedges with his stick. 1877H. Smart Play or Pay i. 19 Fetch me a pair of spurs and a whip that will cut.
4. Fencing, etc. (intr.) To make a cut or slashing stroke: see cut n.2 2 b.
1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 141 Recovering the sword ready to cut to the rear. Ibid. 142 Raise the hand prepared to cut ‘One’. Mod. One of the dragoons cut at him.
5. fig. (trans.). To wound deeply the feelings of; to distress greatly. Now chiefly in phr. to cut to the heart. (Cf. cut up 60 h; cutting ppl. a.)
1582N. T. (Rhem.) Acts v. 33 When they had heard these things, it cut them to the hart. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 4 Every word in it will cut them to the heart. 1688S. Penton Guardian's Instr. 75 Never..upbraid him with his Follies before Strangers; this may cut him too much, and never be forgotten. 1782F. Burney Cecilia iii. viii, He says something so sorrowful that it cuts us to the soul! 1805Lamb Lett. (1888) I. 220, I have been very much cut about it indeed. 1871Carlyle in Mrs. Carlyle's Lett. III. 243 Often enough had it cut me to the heart, to think what she was suffering.
†6. fig. To rebuke severely, to upbraid. Obs.
1737Whiston Josephus' Antiq. ii. vi. §8 Reubel also was large in cutting them upon this occasion.
II. To make incision through.
7. a. trans. To divide into two or more parts with a sharp-edged instrument; to sever. Used simply of cord, string, and the like, and of bread, wood, or other articles cut for use. Const. in two († a-two), asunder, etc.; in, into parts or pieces; also with adj. complement. Cf. cut up, cut down.
c1300K. Alis. 2709 Mony hed atwo y-kyt. c1340Cursor M. 8875 (Fairf.) Wiþ ax he walde haue kut hit [the tree] þan. Ibid. 16554 (Trin.), & cut þis tre in two. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 165 Sche..kutte þe hyde into a þong þat was ful long and ful smal. c1430Freemasonry (1844) 735 (Mätz.) Kette thy bred al at thy mete Rigth as hyt may be ther yete. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 21 Take clowes and kutte hem. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon i. 56 He cutted hym asonder. a1541Wyatt Poems (1861) 135 With his fatal knife the thread for to kit. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xix. 67 Cutting her cables..and sailing away with all the speed he could. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 371 The Dutch way of cutting and eating asparagus.
b. fig. To sever, divide (a connexion, association, etc.).
1625Bacon Ess., Friendship (Arb.) 173 It [Friendship] redoubleth Ioyes, and cutteth Griefes in Halfes. 1668Dryden Evening's Love iv. iii, 'Tis well there was no love betwixt us; for they [your scissars] had been too dull to cut it. 1876E. Jenkins Blot on Queen's Head 13 The innkeeper..is a fool if he suddenly cuts the associations which endear it to all his customers.
c. to cut to (or in) pieces: (fig.) to rout in battle with great slaughter.
1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 79 The foote were cut all to pieces. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. III. 235 [He] surprised and cut in pieces, a considerable body of Goths. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. 347 The Theban cavalry..suddenly fell upon them, cut to pieces six hundred, and drove them into the hills.
d. slang. To divide or share (spoils, profits, etc.); to receive (a share). Also intr. Cf. cut n.2 24 d.
1928E. Wallace Again 3 Just Men x. 216 It was wicked..that anybody should have so much money if he could not ‘cut’ his share. 1932― When Gangs Came xxviii. 278 ‘The other fellows’ had refused to ‘cut’.
8. a. spec. To carve (meat); also absol.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. iii. 130 And. Faith, I can cut a caper. To. And I can cut the Mutton too't. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. ii. 121 Don't cut like a Mother-in-Law, but send me a large Slice. 1888Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch x, Ida allowed Mr. Quest to cut her some cold boiled beef.
b. (slang or colloq.) to cut it too fat: to ‘come it strong’, overdo a thing.
1836–9Dickens Sk. Boz 54 Gentlemen in alarming waist⁓coats and steel watch-guards..‘cutting it uncommon fat’. 1854G. W. Curtis Potiphar Papers 131 (Bartlett) But to have a philosopher of the Sennaar school show you why you are [uncomfortable], is cutting it rather too fat.
c. to cut fine: see fine a. 7 g.
9. a. To make a narrow opening through (a dyke, etc.), or through the bank of (a canal), so as to let the water escape.
1590[see cutting vbl. n. 1]. 1677Lond. Gaz. No. 1232/3 Report said the French..had cut the Canal. 1710Ibid. 4582/1 Orders are..given for cutting the Scarpe at Bioche..in order to draw off the Water..into the adjacent Marshes. 1831Palmerston in Bulwer Life II. ix. 117 note, This extensive inundation was carried into effect by cutting the great sea-dykes.
b. Mining. To intersect (a vein of ore).
1778W. Pryce Min. Cornub. 319 Cut, to intersect a vein, branch, or lode by driving horizontally or sinking perpendicularly. 1881in Raymond Mining Gloss.
c. with through.
1883Manch. Guardian 15 Oct. 5/7 To shorten the course of the river..by cutting through the neck of the low land opposite Greenwich.
d. to cut and cover: to plough so that the furrow-slice is turned over on an unploughed strip. U.S.
1839[see 61 below]. 1861Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. IV. 111 Mr. Mills is not in favor of any implement that ‘cuts and covers’. Col. Harris.. says that cutting and covering is practiced by some of the Scioto farmers.
10. To break up, reduce, or dissolve the viscidity of (a liquid, phlegm, etc.).
1578Lyte Dodoens ii. lxxv. 248 The same..cutteth or severeth the grosse humors. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden lxxv, Hyssop..cutteth and breaketh tough Phlegme. 1698Petiver in Phil. Trans. XX. 333 The Root..taken in Water corrects and cuts tough Phleagm. 1743Lond. & Country Brew. iv. (ed. 2) 305 It will cut and cure a Butt of ropy Beer.
11. To separate the leaves of (a book) by cutting through the folds of the sheets with a paper knife. (Properly to cut open.)
1786F. Burney Diary 2 Aug., The Queen had given me a new collection of German books..to cut open for her. 1848Thackeray Lett. 28 July, I thought I would begin to cut open a book I had bought. Mod. This book is not cut. I have cut a few leaves at the beginning.
12. a. To divide with an edged instrument, as an axe, saw, sickle, etc. (a natural growth) for the purpose of taking the part detached; to reap (corn), mow (grass), hew (timber), etc.
This passes into branch III.
c1300Havelok 942 Al that euere shulden he nytte, Al he drow, and al he citte. c1400Mandeville (1839) xv. 168 Whan it is ripe..than men kytten hem. 1419in Surtees Misc. (1890) 14 Thay that has taken tham to ferme..sall kytte the herbage. 1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 1 §4 It [shall] be laufull..to cutte and to hew heth in any mannes grounde. 1611Bible 2 Chron. ii. 8 Thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon. 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1218 Until it [the crop] was cut and carried away.
b. The object may be unexpressed, or may be the ground on which the crop grows.
1789Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts II. 73, I cut one perch of ground..the produce of which weighed five hundred and one pounds. 1876Saunders Lion in Path i, The more distant meadows are cut. 1892Sporting & Dram. News 14 May 328/2 The mowers have commenced ‘cutting’ at the earliest streak of daylight.
13. a. intr. (in pass. sense). To suffer incision, to get cut; to admit of being cut; to turn out of a specified quality on being cut.
1560Nice Wanton in Hazl. Dodsley II. 172, I will make your knave's flesh cut. 1751Chambers Cycl., Alabaster cuts very smooth and easy. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. State iii. xxiii. 218 None could come near to feel his estate; it might therefore cut fatter in his purse. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 138 The trout..cut red. 1839De Quincey Casuist. Roman Meals Wks. 1863 III. 264 Who would think that a nonentity could cut into so many somethings? 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 157 Chain..is not so liable to cut against rocks. Mod. The cloth does not cut to advantage.
b. To yield when cut or shorn (as sheep). Also of land, to yield as a crop.
With advb. complement passing into simple object.
1754Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. XLIII. 90 The Pasturing good..and cuts enough to keep all the stock. 1840J. Buel Farmer's Comp. (ed. 2) 211 One acre of good grass will cut three tons of hay, or keep a cow... Four acres of lean, poor grass will cut little more..than three tons of hay. 1854Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XV. i. 228 The Hampshiredowns..cut a heavier fleece than the Southdowns. 1858Ibid. XIX. i. 59 The half-breds cut less wool than the Shropshire Downs. 1872Rep. Vermont Board Agric. 351 It would cut only hay enough to winter four cattle. 1923R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean x. 169, I quit the sea for a spell to run my own place—she cuts thirty ton o' hay.
III. To separate or detach with an edged tool.
14. a. trans. To separate or remove by cutting; to sever from the main body; to lop off. With const. from or equivalent prep., or advb. complement, as adrift; also frequently cut away, cut off, cut out.
† to cut a purse: to steal it by cutting it from the girdle to which it was suspended.
a1300E.E. Psalter cxviii. 39 Cute mine up-braidinge [Wyclif 1382 Kut of my repref, 1388 Kitte awey my schen⁓schip]. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 3715 Þe lymes þat er cutted fra þe body. 1393Gower Conf. II. 347 Till he the mannes purs have kut. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 473 Thauȝhe Alexander kytte [absciderit] myne hede he may not sle my sawle. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 2603 All the braunches of the tree shuld be kitted. 1585in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 216 II. 297 There, was a schole howse sett upp to learne younge boyes to cutt purses. 1632J. Lee Short Surv. Sweden 84 Cut out of his mothers wombe. 1694Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 173 So cut the Fat from it by pieces. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 175 We were obliged..to cut the Raft adrift. 1842Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. VI. 413 Halfpenny-worths of bread cut off the loaf.
†b. = cut off (56 b). Obs.
1583T. Stocker Hist. Civ. Warres Lowe C. i. 72 b, Hee made also a bridge ouer the Maze, that he myght..cut the enemie from victuals. 1789Triumphs of Fortitude II. 63 We cannot be cut from the privileges..of friendship.
c. transf. = 57 d. U.S.
1903A. Adams Log Cowboy ii. 13 Flood had the first pick, and cut twelve bays and browns.
IV. To pass through as in cutting.
15. a. trans. To divide, separate, pierce, intersect, run into or through: expressing relative position, not motion. Also intr. with through, etc. and to cut across (fig.).
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 47 And from that hit [Watling strete] kyttethe ouer [transcindit] Seuerne nye to Worcestre. c1590Marlowe Faust. Wks. (Rtldg.) 91/2 Just through the midst runs flowing Tiber's stream With winding banks that cut it in two parts. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 31 Places very hot..in regard the æquinoctial cuts them. 1811Pinkerton Petral. I. 314 Serpentine mountains, which it [steatite] cuts through in small, perpendicular, or rake veins. 18..Whittier Norembega vii, Yon spire..That cuts the evening sky. 1885Law Rep. 14 Q. Bench Div. 919 The old part of the path which the line had cut across. 1927Carr-Saunders & Jones Soc. Struct. Eng. & Wales 83 But these other associations cut across industrial, occupational, and income classifications. 1960R. Davies Voice from Attic 38 We exist as a class which cuts across all classes.
b. Geom. Of a line (or surface): To pass through or across, to cross (a line or surface), intersect.
1570Billingsley Euclid i. xxiii. 33 The two pointes, where the circumference of the circle cutteth the lines. 1660Barrow Euclid iii. Def. ii, The right line FG cuts the circle FED. 1746Tom Thumb's Trav. Eng. 114 Most of the Streets..cut one another at Right Angles. 1862Todhunter Elem. Euclid i. xv, If two straight lines cut one another, the vertical, or opposite, angles shall be equal.
16.
†a. To cross (a line): expressing motion. Obs.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 11 The last of May after a storme wee cut the Tropique of Capricorne. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xxi. 136 Then cutting the Line, they view the face of that heaven which earth hideth from us.
b. To come across, strike, hit upon (a path, etc.). esp. U.S. with trail. Also ellipt.
1892Field 23 Jan. 119/1 At length we cut our spoor again, and hunted it along carefully and slowly. 1899T. Hall Tales 19 One of his men dashes breathlessly in..with the exciting report that he has cut the raiders' trail. 1903A. Adams Log Cowboy vii. 90 If you have no authority to cut this trail then you don't cut this herd. Ibid., They were merely cutting (trail cutting) in the interest of the immediate locality.
17. intr. To cross, to pass straight through or across; esp. cut over, cut across (adv. or prep.).
1551Acts Privy Council Eng. III. 320 The Marishall..woll passe by lande to Dovour, and from thens cutt over to Bulloigne. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 236 Thus have I walked about this whole Diocese: now therefore let me cutte over to Watlingstreete. 1581Marbeck Bk. of Notes 163 Except the ships cut and take course even justlie betweene both, they hardlie scape drowning. 1600Holland Livy xxviii. ii. 669 b, Before that he cut over the streights of Gibraltar to Gades. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. ii. (1660) 107 Cutting through the Magellanike Straits..he encompassed the whole world. 1823New Monthly Mag. VIII. 500 A few of the most active cut across to the shallows. 1858R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma xiv. 47 They cut across the deer studded park.
18. a. trans. To pass sharply through, cleave (the air, the water).
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 423 Shippes..cut the waves as they are furthered with a merrie winde. 1596Spenser Hymn, Heav. Love 69 With nimble wings to cut the skies. 1696Tate & Brady Ps. viii. 8 The Fish that cuts the Seas. 1709Watts Hymn, ‘Awake, our Souls’ v, Swift as an Eagle cuts the air. 1870Bryant Iliad I. ii. 74 In his beaked galleys, swift to cut the sea.
b. intr. with through.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 40 Behold The strong ribb'd Barke through liquid Moutaines cut. 1694Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 33 This same noise the Ships make likewise when they cut through the Sea. 1728Pope Dunc. i. 182 And pond'rous slugs cut swiftly thro' the sky. 1848Thackeray Lett. 28 July, The ship cutting through the water at fifteen miles an hour.
19. slang or colloq. (intr.)
a. To run away, make off, ‘be off’. Also to cut it. (See also cut and run 41.) Originally with away, off.
1590Spenser F.Q. ii. vi. 5 It [a boat] cut away upon the yielding wave. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. Wks. (Grosart) 841 (D.), I fear to faint if (at the first) too fast I cut away, and make too hasty haste. 1664Cotton Scarron. iv. Poet. Wks. (1765) 90 Put on the wings that used to bear ye, And cut away to Carthage quickly. 1834Dickens Sk. Boz (1836) 1st Ser. I. 92 The linen-draper cut off..leaving the landlord his compliments and the key. 1844P. Parley's Ann. V. 140 The door of her prison was opened, and the turnkey told her that she might ‘cut’. 1848Dickens Dombey xv. 156 Mr. Toodle..tapped her on the back; and said..‘Polly! cut away!’ 1858Trollope Dr. Thorne ix, Now, my lady, do cut it, cut at once. c1867T. W. Robertson Caste i. 7, I did get leave, and I did cut away; and while away, I was miserable. 1882Macm. Mag. XLVI. 443, I looked out of the tail of my eye, to see what she was doing, but she'd cut. 1932A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 67 The prefect told the small boy to cut off.
b. Hence, To move sharply, to run rapidly. With various advbs. and preps. Also with along, out. to cut round (U.S. colloq.): to make a display; to act in a lively, gay fashion.
1797B. Hawkins Lett. (1916) 126 He was driving a wagon at the time he was taken, and they cut out and took the horses with him. 1833S. Smith Major Downing 139 What made us cut back so quick from Concord? 1834D. Crockett Life 63, I saw a little woman streaking it along through the woods like all wrath, and so I cut on too. Ibid. 65, I took my eldest brother..and cut out to her father's house to get her. a1852F. M. Whitcher Widow Bedott P. (1856) 91 They say she cut round and hollered and laffed and tried to be wonderful interestin'. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. iii, We all cut up-stairs after the Doctor. a1859in Bartlett Dict. Amer., Instead of sticking to me as she used to do, she got to cuttin' round with all the young fellows, just as if she cared nothin' about me no more. 1864Dickens Mut. Fr. I. ii. viii. 240 I'll cut back and ask for leave. 1873Black Pr. Thule xiv. 219 And now the carriage cut round the corner. 1878‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. i. vii. §10. 109 The rabbits..cut in and out of the rides or runs. 1879F. R. Stockton Rudder Grange viii. 86 [The dog] was only cuttin' round because he was so glad to get loose. 1902E. Nesbit Five Children & It ix. 237 You'll be late for your grub!.. Then cut along home. 1932A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 68, I told him to cut out and buy some tea. 1949‘M. Innes’ Journeying Boy ii. 25 ‘And now you'd better cut along.’ Captain Cox was a great believer in the moral effects of abrupt dismissals on the young. 1958T. Williams Orpheus Descending iii. 88 Lady. So you're—cutting out, are you? Val. My gear's all packed. I'm catchin' the southbound bus.
c. To get up behind a vehicle. U.S.
1848Popular Songs 36 Another calls out ‘cut behind’. 1860O. W. Holmes Prof. Breakf.-t. viii. 171 Here is a boy that loves to..chalk doorsteps, ‘cut behind’ anything on wheels or runners [etc.].
V. To shorten or reduce by cutting.
20. trans. To shorten or reduce by cutting off a portion; to trim, clip, shear; to prune.
a1300Cursor M. 7240 (Gött.) Quilis he slep scho cutt his her. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 973 Dido, Hire clothis cutte were un-to the kne. c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 127 To kytte a vyne is thinges iij to attende. c1440Promp. Parv. 111 Cutte vynes, puto. 1665–72Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) II. 69 To my barber for cutting my haire, 6d. 1878Morley Diderot I. 136 Diderot and his colleagues are cutting their wings for a flight to posterity.
21. a. fig. To curtail, abridge, shorten, reduce; to shorten (a play, etc.) by omitting portions; = cut short, cut down.
1413Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle ii. xliii. (1859) 49 Glosynge, cuttynge, kouerynge, and cloutynge the lawe of Crystes gospel. 1585Jas. I. Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 55 Maist kyndis of versis quhilks are not cuttit or brokin. 1865Pall Mall G. 24 July 11/1 In ‘cutting’ an opera it is not to be supposed that any two persons will agree as to what ought to be left out. 1888Standard 14 May, The market has begun to cut rates again.
b. imp. (slang) = cut out (see 57 a below). Colloq. phr. cut the cackle (see cackle n. 3 a).
1859Hotten Dict. Slang 28 Cut,..to cease doing anything. Ibid., Cut that, be quiet, or stop. a1871T. W. Robertson Caste i. 6 Geo. Well, then, eighteen months ago — Haw. Oh, cut that; you told me all about that. 1907E. S. Field Six-Cylinder Courtship 54 ‘My dear fellow—’ I began. ‘Cut it!’ he commanded. 1919F. Hurst Humoresque 314 Come on, Herm, cut the comedy. It's time we were getting across to our hotel.
c. To outdo, excel. Cf. senses 54 e and 57 f below. Chiefly U.S. in modern use (see quot. 1952).
1884Referee 13 Apr. 1/4 George's performance..is hardly likely to be disturbed for a long time to come, unless he cuts it himself. 1897Penrith Obs. 21 Dec. (E.D.D.), He went thirteen feet t'first lowp, but I cut him bi' three inch. 1952B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz (1958) xxv. 351 ‘Cut’ also means to best a soloist or band in competition.
d. to cut a corner or cut corners: to pass round a corner or corners as closely as possible; fig., to pursue an economical or easy but hazardous course of action; to act in an unorthodox manner to save time; also, to act illegally.
1869‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. (1870) xxiii. 171 He cuts a corner so closely now and then..that I feel myself ‘scrooching’, as the children say. 1894Kipling Day's Work (1898) 303 It was at this point that he began to cut corners. 1909M. Diver Candles in Wind 57 Her husband's tendency to ‘cut corners’ when confronted with awkward facts. 1915The Cape I. xx. 38 They turn out of side-streets at high speed, and cut corners in a dangerous manner. 1957W. H. Whyte Organization Man 292 A disciplining force that helped them resist the temptation to cut corners. 1966‘S. Ransome’ Hidden Hour xii. 149 He could cut a sharp corner without letting it bother his conscience. 1966‘S. Woods’ Enter Certain Murderers ii. 41 If Dad had cut any corners, I think I'd have known about it.
e. (Cinemat., Radio.) trans. To edit (a film, etc.). Also intr., to make a quick transition from one shot to the next. imp. A signal to stop.
1913[implied in 52 c]. 1916E. W. Sargent Technique Photoplay (ed. 3) 184 You can cut to some single person who overlooks the crime and later tells the story. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 100 Cut is used by [radio] production men as an imperative to halt a rehearsal. 1938Times 7 Jan. 13/6 In front of the [television] producer sit the sound engineer controlling total output, and the sound mixer selecting and cutting it. 1947D. Lean in O. Blakeston Working for Films 29 The scene should be cut like this. 1953K. Reisz Technique Film Editing iii. xiv. 240 We cut to a closer shot of Pip. 1959Elizabethan June 26/1 When the director wants to stop the camera he calls out ‘Cut’. 1960N. Kneale Quatermass & Pit i. 11 Cut—to the excavation. Ibid. 12 Cut—to where a spadeful of clay is being swung down from the truck.
f. trans. and intr. To cut out (see 57 r below).
1938Hemingway Fifth Column (1939) iii. ii. 88 Cut those lights! 1957Granta 9 Mar. 19/1 Then I would lie down on my back watching them, hoping their engines wouldn't cut just then. 1958‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose i. 34, I gave her a little throttle..and then cut it as she rolled on to the grass. 1970D. MacKenzie Kyle Contract (1971) 12 He drove into his carport and cut the motor.
22. a. Dyeing. To reduce (a colour) to a softer shade.
1862O'Neill Dict. Calico Printing 149/2 The colours are cut or reduced by passing the pieces in warm water containing very acid oxymuriate of tin.
b. To dilute or adulterate. Chiefly U.S.
1930J. P. Burke in Amer. Mercury Dec. 455/1 We don't cut hooch any more. 1938Amer. Speech XIII. 190/2 Other types of narcotics are cut. 1954Encounter July 27/2 My wife..had a cup of coffee cut with bourbon ready for me. 1955Times 9 Aug. 6/1 Most of the wine..when mixed or ‘cut’ with Algerian wine, provides a good deal of the ordinary vin courant. 1966Guardian 31 Aug. 11/6 When I was 13 I knew how much quinine and sugar water you needed to cut heroin and sell it. 1967Boston Globe 21 May 23/4 Use bleach which has been cut with water and spread on the counter tops.
VI. To shape, fashion, form, or make by cutting.
23. a. To make or form by cutting (e.g. a statue, engraving, seal, jewel, etc.), to sculpture or carve (a statue or image), to engrave (a plate, seal, etc.), to fashion (a stone or jewel), to shape (garments, utensils, etc.).
15..Ballad on Money in Halliwell Nugae Poet. 48 Craftysmen that be in every cyte..Sum cutte, sum shave, sume knoke, sum grave, Only money to wynne. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 84 Why should a man..Sit like his Grandsire, cut in Alablaster? 1623B. Jonson On Shaks. Portrait in 1st Folio, This Figure, that thou here seest put, It was for gentle Shakespeare cut. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 146 Their Boots are well sewed, but ill cut. 1662Evelyn Chalcogr. 69 We have seen some few things cut in Wood by..Hans Holbein the Dane. 1709Steele Tatler No. 142 ⁋5 His Seals are..exquisitely well cut. Ibid. No. 166 ⁋2 He knows perfectly well when a Coat is well cut. 1874Boutell Arms & Arm. x. 196 It was escalloped, or cut into some rich open-work pattern. 1887Westm. Rev. June 340 Pointed piles, evidently cut by a metal instrument.
†b. fig. To make ready, prepare, plan; = cut out 57 l. Obs.
c1645Howell Lett., Cut him work to do.
c. pa. pple. Formed, fashioned, shaped (as if by cutting).
c15111st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 32/2 His wingis kyt like a rasour. 1850L. Hunt Autobiog. II. x. 21 His skull was sharply cut and fine. 1883S. C. Hall Retrospect II. 218 His features were finely cut [etc.].
d. Sound Recording. To record; to make (a record). orig. U.S.
1937Printers' Ink Monthly Apr. 50/3 Cut a disk, to make a recording. 1948Newsweek 19 July 38/2 Bernard Baruch cut a record of ‘Yankee Doodle’. 1958M. White in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xviii. 221 The recording studios, where a number of very fine sides indeed were cut. 1962Melody Maker 7 July 2 She cut five titles which will be released as part of the sound-track album of her film.
24. a. To hollow out, excavate (a hole, channel, canal, road, etc.).
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 87 A streame cut through the Coronian Mountaine. 1665Ibid. (1677) 36 From Suez..where several attempts have been made to cut such a Sluice or Channel as should give Ships a navigable and free passage from the Mediterranean thither. 1682Lithgow Trav. x. 479 Cutting in the middle Circle a devalling Hole. 1772T. Simpson Vermin-Killer 2 Their holes..made round as if cut with an auger. 1798in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1799) II. 43 The canal which is now cutting across the Isthmus of Suez. 1878Markham Gt. Frozen Sea xxii. (1880) 278 The men being employed in cutting a road through the hummocks. 1887Spectator 28 May 723/2 We do not see how the canals are to be cut.
b. to cut one's way, cut a passage: to advance by cutting through obstructions.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. ii. 16 The powres we beare with vs Will cut their passage through the force of France. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 34 The Ships cut their way slowly. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 600 He cut his way gallantly through them, and came off safe.
25. To perform or execute (an action, gesture, or display of a grotesque, striking, or notable kind): chiefly in certain established phrases, as to cut a caper, a dash, a figure, a joke, a voluntary, for which see these substantives. Also, to cut an antic, cut a curvet, cut a flourish; to cut faces, to make grimaces, distort the features.
1601[see caper n.2 1 b].
1664Cotton Scarron. iv. (1807) 68 Wilt thou cut faces evermore For husband dead as nail in door? 1688Shadwell Sqr. Alsatia i. i, He shall cut a sham or banter with the best wit or poet of 'em all. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 431 Like the twitchings we sometimes feel in our limbs, or habits men get of cutting faces. 1811W. Irving Life & Lett. (1864) I. xvii. 262, I cut one of my best opera flourishes. 1835― Tour Prairies xxii, Two of us..saw a fellow..cutting queer antics. 1830Fraser's Mag. I. 457 [They] cut a curvet in the air.
VII. Special senses, elliptical, contextual, or technical.
26. Surg.
a. To castrate.
1465Mann. & Househ. Exp. 313 Paid for xvij. kokerelles to make capons of..Item, for the kyttynge of them. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 150 b, The Bore Pigges they cutte when they were sixe monethes olde. a1643W. Cartwright Ordinary i. ii, The great Turk..did command I should be forthwith cut. 1865Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. V. ii. 253 The lamb is stronger for being cut late.
b. To make an incision in the bladder for extraction of stone; also absol. to perform lithotomy.
1566Securis Detection A iij, I will not cut those that haue the stone. 1603Florio Montaigne (1632) 433 A Gentleman in Paris was not long since cut of the stone. 1615Crooke Body of Man Pref., That they should not cut any man for the Stone. 1782H. Watson in Med. Commun. I. 92 The patients cut in our hospitals. 1830Cooper Dict. Surgery (ed. 6) 825 Lithotomy, Mr. Cheselden never resumed his second manner of cutting.
†c. To circumcise. Obs. rare.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1638) 236 Such an apostat rascall..is cut and marked for a Mahometan.
27. Of horses: intr. To strike or bruise the inside of the fetlock with the shoe or hoof of the opposite foot.
1660Fisher Rusticks Alarm Wks. (1679) 139 See..how he..interferes, and cuts one Leg against another, and is not sensible of it. 1675Lond. Gaz. No. 1028/4 The other a bright bay..trots and gallops only, cuts a little behind. 1727–51Chambers Cycl., Cutting, in the manage, is when the horse's feet interfere. 1865Youatt Horse xvi. (1872) 380 Some horses will cut only when they are fatigued or lame and old; many colts will cut before they arrive at their full strength.
28. Naut. (absol.) To cut the cable (in order to get quickly under way). See also cut and run 41.
1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4378/3 The Enemy had escaped, having..cut and tow'd out. 1743C. Knowles in Naval Chron. (1799) I. 107, I made the signal to cut. 1780Ld. Rodney Let. in New Ann. Reg. 42 Ready at a moment's warning to cut or slip in order to pursue or engage the enemy.
29. Card-playing. (trans. and intr.) To divide (a pack of cards); spec. to do so at random into two or more parts in order to determine the deal, prevent cheating in dealing, etc. Also, to divide cards as a means of selecting one's partner, and transf.
1532Dice Play (Percy Soc.) 33 At trump..cutting at the neck is a great vantage, so is cutting by a bum card (finely) under & over. c1592Marlowe Mass. Paris i. ii, Thou hast all the cards within thy hands, To shuffle or cut. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 425 Shufling and cutting ones selfe a Fortune in this scambling World. 1674Cotton Compl. Gamester in Singer Hist. Cards 342 Having shuffled the cards, the adversary cuts them. 1750Hoyle Whist (ed. 10) 159 [Rule] xv. You are to cut two Cards at the least. 1793Sporting Mag. I. 27 The person who cuts the lowest, is entitled to the deal. 1824Hist. Gambling 58 Dick stated that he could cut any card he chose at any time. 1878H. H. Gibbs Ombre 19 His left-hand player then cuts to him, lifting and also leaving at the least three cards. 1880H. C. Adams College Days at Oxford 52 They cut for partners. 1937A. Thirkell Summer Half i. 28 While they cut for partners, while they dealt,..his mind was in a turmoil. 1938C. Morgan Flashing Stream iii. 221 Cut for drinks... (They throw dice on a table.) 1958H. Phillips Penguin Hoyle 4 Before each rubber those taking part ‘cut’ for partners and choice of seats.
30. Dancing. (intr.) To spring from the ground, and, while in the air, to twiddle the feet one in front of the other alternately with great rapidity.
1603Florio Montaigne 228 (T.) Dances, wherein are divers changes, cuttings, turnings, and agitations of the body. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) I. 232 One of them had shewn greater agility and cut higher than any one. 1836–9Dickens Sk. Boz, Out went the boots, first on one side then on the other, then cutting, then shuffling. 1844― Christmas Carol (1885) 26 Fezziwig ‘cut’—cut so deftly, that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger.
31. In various games:
a. Cricket. trans. and intr. To hit a length ball, a little wide of the off stump, with a bat held quite, or nearly, horizontal, by which the ball is driven to the left side of point. Also, of a cricket ball: to turn sharply after pitching; of a bowler: to make (the ball) turn sharply after pitching.
b. Lawn Tennis. trans. and intr. To strike the ball sharply with the racket held at an angle, or with a downward motion, so as to make it revolve, by which it tends to shoot with a very slight rise on striking the ground.
c. Croquet. trans. To drive (a ball) away obliquely by a stroke from another ball. Also intr.
1816W. Lambert Instr. & Rules Cricket 15 Aided by a turn or motion of the wrist, the Ball may be made to cut or twist, after it has grounded. 1833J. Nyren Young Cricketer's Tutor 31, I do not remember to have seen Lambert cut at a ball with the bat held horizontally. Ibid. 65 Peter Steward..could cut the balls very hard at the point of the bat. [1840J. Nyren Cricketer's Guide 21 Beldham would cut at such a ball with a horizontal bat.] 1851J. Pycroft Cricket Field vii. 150 Harry Walker, Robinson, and Saunders were the three great Cutters; and they all cut very late. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, Johnson..bowls a ball almost wide to the off; the batter steps out and cuts it beautifully to where cover-point is standing very deep. 1888Steele & Littleton Cricket (Badm. Libr.) ii. 62 We have never seen Shrewsbury..cut in any other way. 1960I. Peebles Bowler's Turn 67 Geary and Macaulay cut and spun the ball at a sharp pace.
b.1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports (ed. 12) iii. i. v. 691/2 The ball after contact with the ground has a tendency to shoot with a very slight rise in comparison with a ball that is not cut. Ibid., If the ball is purely cut, stand well back from it.
c.1874J. D. Heath Croquet-Player 33 If the ball is to be ‘cut’ to the left, the right side of it must be struck. Ibid., Considerable practice will be required before the player can cut perfectly. 1966J. W. Solomon Croquet 95 To cut the rush to one side or the other, was for a long time to me a matter of luck.
32. Painting.
a. trans. (See quot. 1727.)
b. intr. Of a colour: To show itself obtrusively, stand out strongly.
1727–51Chambers Cycl., Cutting, in painting, the laying one strong lively colour over another, without any shade or softening.—The cutting of colours has always a disagreeable effect. c1816Fuseli Lect. Art viii. (1848) 508 Those that cut and come forward, first,—and those which more or less partake of the surrounding medium, in various degrees of distance.
33. colloq.
a. trans. To break off acquaintance or connexion with (a person); also (as a single act) to affect not to see or know (a person) on meeting or passing him. Often emphasized by dead.
1634S. R. Noble Soldier ii. i, Why shud a Souldier..Be cut thus by..a Courtier? 1786G. Colman in Europ. Mag. IX. 370 Some bow, some nod, some cut him. 1796Jane Austen Sense & Sens. xliv. (D.), He had cut me ever since my marriage. 1822Hazlitt Table-t. II. viii. 188 To cut an acquaintance..has hardly yet escaped out of the limits of slang phraseology. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey i. iv, Any fellow voluntarily conversing with an usher was to be cut dead by the whole school. 1887F. S. Russell Earl of Peterborough II. vii. 230 He met Bolingbroke..and..cut the ex-Minister dead.
†b. intr. To break off acquaintance or connexion with. Obs.
1782in F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 305 Mr. Poor and the Fits' have cut, which I regret, but poor man nobody likes him. 1808Southey Lett. (1856) II. 110 For more than a year Scott has cut with the ‘Edinburgh Review’. 1825New Monthly Mag. XIV. 180 I've cut dead with Lucy Drummond, so you may be perfectly easy in that affair.
c. trans. To renounce, give up, absent oneself from, avoid (a thing).
1791‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. x. (1809) 109, I shall cut riding entirely. 1794Gentl. Mag. Dec. 1085/1, I was told of men..who..cut chapel, cut gates, cut lectures, cut hall, cut examinations, [etc.]. c1814in Whibley In Cap & Gown (1890) 104 Bid him not set me an imposition For cutting his lectures this morning at eight. 1835E. Caswall Art of Pluck (Oxford ed. 6) 37 He that cutteth chapel often. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. vii. (1889) 59, I would cut the whole concern to-morrow. 1930W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale iv. 49 She was prepared to cut an engagement in London.
34. To finish. N.Z. slang.
1945J. Henderson Gunner Inglorious xvi. 134 Let's cut the lot. 1947‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 41 Is the beer all cut? 1952G. Wilson Julien Ware xxxiv. 241 Here, drink it down. We must cut this bottle tonight.
†35. Irish Hist. (trans.) To levy (a tax, etc.). Also absol. [Ir. gearraim sraid: cf. F. tailler.]
1596Spenser State Irel. 87 Cutting upon every portion of land a reasonable rent. 1610Davies 2nd Let. Earl Salisb. (1787) 280 He..had power to cut upon all the inhabitants, high, or low, as pleased him. 1612― Why Ireland, etc. 126, I may cut the erick upon the country.
†36. Thieves' cant. To speak, talk, say. (trans. and intr.) Obs.
c1500Maid Emlyn in Anc. Poet. Tracts (Percy Soc.) 17 Than wolde she mete, With her lemman swete, And cutte with hym. 1567Harman Caveat 84 To cutte bene whydds, to speake or geue good wordes..To cutte, to saye. 1725in New Cant. Dict., To Cut, to Speak. 1815Scott Guy M. xxviii, Meg..has some queer ways, and often cuts queer words.
†37. intr. ? To shape one's discourse, trim, try not to commit oneself. Obs.
1672–3Marvell Reh. Transp. I. 114 He cuts indeed and faulters in this discourse, which is no good sign. 1710E. Ward Brit. Hud. 74 Some Crafty Zealots cut and wheadl'd, And lying vow'd they never meddl'd.
VIII. Phrases.
38. to cut a feather:
†a. To make fine distinctions, ‘split hairs’. Obs.
a1633Austin Medit. (1635) 169 Nor seeke..with nice distinctions, to cut a Feather [with the Schoolemen]. 1684T. Goddard Plato's Demon 317 Men who..have not the skill to cut a feather.
b. Naut. Of a ship: To make the water foam before her.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 10 If the Bow be too broad, she will seldome..cut a feather, that is, to make a fome before her. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To cut a Feather, when a ship has so sharp a bow that she makes the spray feather in cleaving it.
39. to cut a tooth, cut one's teeth: to have them appear through the gums; also fig. to become knowing, attain to discretion; so cut one's eye-teeth.
1677Lady Hatton in Hatton Corr. (1878) 148 Poor little Susana is very ill about her teeth. I hope in God they will not be long before they be cut. 1694Congreve Double Dealer ii. iv, Like a child that was cutting his teeth. a1735Arbuthnot (J.), When the teeth are ready to cut. 1860Reade Cloister & H. xxx, He and I were born the same year, but he cut his teeth long before me. 1869Princess Alice Mem. (1884) 220 Baby..is now cutting his fifth tooth, which is all but through.
40. to cut and carve: see carve v. 11. to cut and contrive: to practise economy so as to keep one's expenses within one's means. to cut and dry: to render cut and dried: see cut ppl. a.
1854Dickens Hard T. i. ii, A mighty man at cutting and drying. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. i. iii, I am obliged to cut and contrive. 1883H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. (ed. 8) 360 You cannot cut and dry truth. 1888J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge xiv, Cutting and contriving to make both ends meet.
41. to cut and run (Naut.): see quot. 1794; (slang or colloq.) to make off promptly, hurry off. Also as attrib. phr.
1704Boston News-Let. 12 June 2/2 Cap. Vaughn rode by said Ship, but cut & run. 1794Rigging & Seamanship II. 248* To Cut and run, to cut the cable and make sail instantly, without waiting to weigh anchor. 1821Byron Let. to Murray 7 Feb., Greek and Turkish craft..were obliged to ‘cut and run’ before the wind. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. v, I'd give a shilling if they had cut and run. 1909Daily Chron. 23 Oct. 9/1 If it is the cut-and-run mood that has conquered she goes home. 1945Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 27 Sept. 1944–13 Mar. 1945 54 We anticipated a cut-and-run operation by a force consisting of two or three battleships and a couple of carriers.
42. to cut loose:
a. trans. To loosen or set free by cutting that which fastens or confines;
b. intr. To sever oneself, free oneself, escape.
1828Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. i. xxv, Dacre's quarters were attacked, and his horses all cut loose. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vii. 41 In leaving the only home she had ever known, and cutting loose from the protection of a friend whom she loved and revered. 1889A. E. Barr Feet of Clay xv. 301, I will cut loose from every entanglement.
c. To begin to act freely; to start off; to commence an attack; to let oneself go. U.S.
1900Ade More Fables in Slang (1902) 182 She would approach the Piano timidly and sort of Trifle with it for a while, and say they would have to make Allowances, and then she would Cut Loose and worry the whole Block. 1901S. E. White Westerners xviii. 157 You just ought to see him when he cuts loose. 1910W. M. Raine B. O'Connor 244 It was York shot Reilly, after Cork had cut loose at him. 1918E. M. Roberts Flying Fighter 66 My lorry had been seen, however. As I was taking it round a corner the Huns cut loose and caused me to go down that road as fast as the motor would take me. 1923R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean xi. 196 He just now cut loose with ‘Goodness gracious..I should call this the deuce of a mess’. 1941H. L. Mencken Newspaper Days (1942) xi. 184 When he got down his first dozen mugs..he cut loose with an exultant yodel.
† to cut scores: to settle accounts (with): see score n. Obs.
43. to cut short: (trans.)
a. to shorten by cutting off a part or parts; to abridge, curtail. lit. and fig. (Sometimes to cut shorter.)
1545Brinklow Compl. 21 Cut shorter your processe. 1548Hall Chron. 202 He was taken and..cut shorter by the hedde. 1611Bible 2 Kings x. 32 In those dayes the Lord began to cut Israel short [margin, Hebr. to cut off the ends]. 1664H. More Apol. 507, I must..cut my skirts as short as I can, that they sit not upon them. 1781F. Burney Diary 25 Aug., That gentleman..cut the matter very short, and would not talk upon it at all. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. viii. 293 William cuts the whole story very short. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 149, I will ask you to cut your answers shorter.
b. To curtail, abridge, or restrict (any one) in his privileges, means, etc.
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 29 Your Lordships..cut me yet thirtie pound shorter. 1653Walton Angler 156 Because I cut you short in that, I will commute for it, by telling you that that was told me for a secret. 1672H. More Brief Reply 302 You..unjustly take upon you to cut us short of Salvation. 1755Johnson, To cut short, to abridge: as, the soldiers were cut short of their pay. 1799Nelson in Nicolas Disp. VII. p. cxciii, I am cut short enough by having no other emolument.
c. To bring to a sudden end, break off, put a stop to abruptly.
d. To interrupt abruptly; to stop, ‘pull up’ (a speaker).
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 81 The welfare of vs all Hangs on the cutting short that fraudfull man. 1611Bible Rom. ix. 28 He will finish the worke, and cut it short in righteousnesse. 1697Dryden Virg. æneid (J.), More he would have said, But the stern heroe turn'd aside his head, And cut him short. 1713Berkeley Hylas & P. i. Wks. 1871 I. 294 It would probably have cut short your discourse. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 232 But the Admiral..cut him short. ‘I do not wish to hear anything on that subject.’ 1873Black Pr. Thule xiv. 222 Her speculations..were cut short by the entrance of her husband.
e. intr. To stop short, be brief.
1691tr. Emilianne's Obs. Journ. Naples 184, I was oblig'd to cut short, and tell her [etc.]. 1726J. M. tr. Trag. Hist. Chev. de Vaudray 116 To cut short..we broke up.
44. to cut one's stick (slang): to take one's departure, be off, go. Also to cut one's lucky.
1825Blackw. Mag. XVIII. 42/1 He..has cut his stick mayhap until we sail. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xl, I'm afraid I must cut my stick. 1844W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scot. iii. 47, I am glad you ‘cut your lucky’.
45. to cut the coat according to the cloth: to adapt oneself to circumstances, keep within the limits of one's means (see cloth n. 10). So also † to cut one's cloth according to one's calling.
1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 16, I shall Cut my cote after my cloth. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxviii. §13 To teach them how they should cut their coats. 1622Fletcher Beggar's Bush iv. i, Keep yourself right and even cut your cloth, sir, According to your calling. 1867Homeward Mail 16 Nov. 953/2 Times are changed, and..we must, to use the homely metaphor, ‘cut our coat according to our cloth’.
†46. to cut sail, one's sail: see quot. 1692. ? Obs.
1569Hawkins' 2nd Voy. W. Ind. in Arber Garner V. 88 At which departing, in cutting of the foresail, a marvellous misfortune happened to one of the Officers. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Discov. E. Ind. 71 a, The whole Fleete, hauing wayed, did then begin to cut and spread their sayles with a great pleasure. 1692in Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. i. xvi. 76 Cut the Sail, that is unfurl it, and let it fall down. 1721in Bailey.
47. to cut the throat of: (fig.) to destroy, ruin, injure irretrievably.
1637R. Humfrey tr. St. Ambrose Pref., This cuts the throat of that misconceived opinion. 1692Bp. of Ely Answ. Touchstone 10 This, which cuts the throat of the Roman Cause. 1824Leicester Stanhope Greece in 1824. 15 Generals..who cut their own throats by word of command. 1867Froude Short Stud. (ed. 2) 114 They..believed that Elizabeth was cutting her own throat.
48. to cut it (too) fat: see 8 b.
49. to cut to pieces: see 7 c.
50. to cut the comb of: to lower the pride of: see comb. to cut the gold (Archery): see gold. to cut the grass under, or the ground from under, a person's feet: see grass, ground. to cut the hair: to split hairs: see hair. to cut the knot: see knot. to cut the round: see round. to cut the volt: see volt, etc. to cut didoes (dido2), cut dirt (dirt n. 6 d), cut eyes, cut (no) ice, cut the painter (painter2 2 b), cut a splurge, cut a swath (swath1 3 c), cut to waste (waste n. 10 d): see the ns. For cut one's loss(es), cut prices, see loss n.1, price n.
IX. In comb. with adverbs.
51. cut about.
a. trans. To damage or disfigure by random cutting and chipping of the surface. Chiefly pass.
1874G. W. Dasent Half a Life II. 119 The most precious monuments of the Abbey..how cut about and mutilated they are!
b. intr. To run or dart about: see 19 b.
cut adrift: see 14. cut asunder: see 7.
52. cut away.
a. trans. To cut so as to take or clear away, to remove by cutting.
c1320Seuyn. Sag. 604 (W.) And his bowes awai i-kett. c1440Promp. Parv. 111 Cuttyyn' a-way, abscindo, amputo. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4229 Some bad þe bolnyng cutt away. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 399/2 Used to draw up the Cataract off the sight of the eye while it is cuting away. 1886Besant Childr. Gibeon 107, I will cut away the dead leaves.
†b. fig. To take away, remove forcibly; to stop the supply of, cut off. Obs.
1382Wyclif 2 Cor. xi. 12, I kitte awey the occasioun of hem. c1450tr. De Imitatione i. xx, He þat wolde kutte awey al maner of veyne besines. 1562N. Winȝet Cert. Tractates i. Wks. 1888 I. 10 All errour and abuse being cuttit away. 1707Freind Peterborow's Cond. Sp. 251 Yesterday they cut away the Water of a Mill in this Town.
c. intr. To go on cutting continuously or without cessation: see away 7.
53. cut back.
a. trans. To prune by cutting off the shoots close back to the main stem or stock.
1871S. Hibberd Amateur's Fl. Garden 210 Early in March cut back all the shoots.
b. To plough the second time, across or at right angles to the first furrow; = cross-plough.
1858Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIX. i. 65 The ordinary method..was for the farmer in the autumn to plough down the field..in the spring he had it cut back.
c. Cinemat. To return to a previous scene by repeating a portion of that scene. (See cut-back n. 2.) Also trans.
1913E. W. Sargent Technique Photoplay (ed. 2) 91 The same device may be used to get rid of a dinner scene... We cut-back to some other action. 1916Ibid. (ed. 3) 194 It is well to remember..that not all plays may be cut back. 1959Halas & Manvell Technique Film Animation 337 Cut back so many frames..and these frames are shot again.
d. trans. To reduce or decrease (expenditure, etc.). Also intr.
1943Sat. Even. Post 6 Nov. 112 If the Army cuts back a program, it will not need the steel for some other program. 1953Manch. Guardian Weekly 7 May 3 Western Europe was cutting back its defence programme. 1958Engineering 4 Apr. 433/1 Industry is continuing to cut back markedly on capital spending plans. 1965Listener 2 Sept. 334/1 Germany, another country whose aid budget had been built up impressively by the early nineteen-sixties, has recently cut it back. 1971Daily Tel. 14 Jan. 2/7 A spokesman for ICI said that recruitment of Ph.D. students had been cut back.
e. intr. In Surfing, to turn one's surf-board back towards the breaking part of a wave.
1963Surfing Yearbk. 41/1 Cutting back, when a rider is getting too far ahead of the curl, and has to change his direction to get in a better position relative to the wave. 1969Observer 3 Aug. 35/1 He can ‘cutback’, turning the board back toward the breaking wave.
54. cut down.
a. trans. To cut so as to bring or throw down; cause to fall by cutting; to fell.
1382Wyclif Matt. iii. 10 Euery tree..shal be kitt [1388 kit] doun. a1400–50Alexander 2850 To cutte down..Bowis of buskis and of braunches. 1534Tindale Matt. xxi. 8 Other cut doune braunches from the trees. 1611Bible Deut. vii. 5 Ye shall destroy their altars..and cut downe their groues. 1784Gentl. Mag. LIV. ii. 643 A hill contiguous is cutting down. 1884J. Hatton Irving's Impr. Amer. II. v. 86 A ship laden with corn was cut down and sunk by floating ice. 1952Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VI. 174/1 As the old trees are cut down, seedlings spring up naturally to replace them.
b. To let fall or take down (the body of one who has been hanged) by cutting the rope.
1547Boorde Introd. Knowl. xxxii. (1870) 203 Whosoeuer that is hanged by-yonde see, shall neuer be cutte nor pulled downe. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1631) III. xii. App. 1023/2 He being hanged till he was halfe dead, was cut downe and stripped. 1883Gardiner Hist. Eng. 1603–42 I. vii. 282 The King having given orders that he should not be cut down until he was dead.
c. To lay low or kill with the sword or the like.
1821Byron Sardan. ii. i. 166 Soldiers, hew down the rebel!.. Cut him down. 1874Green Short Hist. iii. 154 The Welsh..were cut ruthlessly down in the cornfields.
†d. fig. To put a stop to. Obs. rare.
1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 177 That the magistrates and rulers may..cut downe this wicked vice that it may be no more vsed.
e. To take the lead of decisively in a race or run; to surpass, get the better of.
1713Addison Ct. Tariff (J.), So great is his natural eloquence, that he cuts down the finest orator, and destroys the best contrived argument. 1865Surtees Facey Romford's Hounds 156 (Illustration) Captain Spurrier ‘cut down’ by Romford.
f. Naut. (See quot. 1769.)
1769Falconer Dict. Marine, Raser un vaisseau, to cut down a ship, or take off part of her upper works, as the poop, quarter-deck, or fore-castle, in order to lighten her, when she becomes old and feeble. 1805Naval Chron. XIII. 174 The..Indiaman..had been cut down.
g. To reduce, abridge, retrench, curtail, esp. a speech, expenses, wages. Also intr., freq. with on.
1857Lever Fort. Glencore viii, A system of..cutting down every one's demand to the measure of their own pockets. 1885Dunckley in Manch. Weekly Times 6 June 5/5 Only one London newspaper attempts to give the speeches in full, the rest cut them down unmercifully. 1886Baring-Gould Court Royal I. ix. 144 Expenses ought to be cut down in every way. 1939H. W. Horwill Anglo-Amer. Interpreter 54, I am cutting down on my meat. 1945E. Bowen Demon Lover 90, I got my hundred [cigarettes] this morning... I can't seem to cut down, somehow. Mary, have you cut down? 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio xii. 220 Methods of cutting down on the labour have been suggested.
h. to cut down to size: to reduce to suitable dimensions; fig. to reduce to a true or proper level of importance.
1821M. Wilmot Let. 20 Mar. (1935) 100 We..cut down silk stockings to Cat's size. 1904G. B. Shaw Lett. to G. Barker 6 Dec. (1956) 45 The theme is a huge one; and it cant be cut down to Court size. 1927Hemingway Men without Women (1928) 33 He wheeled his horse..towards..the far side of the ring where the bull would come out... ‘Pic him, Manos,’ he said. ‘Cut him down to size for me.’ 1959Listener 2 July 12/2 We are in danger of forgetting our place, of getting ideas above our station. It is good to have Mr. Graves to cut us down to size. 1959Guardian 17 Sept. 18/1 Production and distribution of films has been cut down to size and other interests have been greatly extended. 1969J. Drummond People in Glass House xxxvi. 140 You've had thirty good years, perhaps it's time you were cut down to size.
55. cut in.
a. trans. To carve or engrave in intaglio.
1883Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 85 §3 Her official number..shall be cut in on her mainbeam.
b. Whale-fishery. To cut up (a whale) so as to remove the blubber.
1839T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 185 As soon as possible after the whale has been killed, it is brought alongside the ship to be cut in, by means of instruments which are called ‘spades’. 1840F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. II. 208 The next proceeding of the whaler is to ‘cut in’, or remove the blubber. Ibid. 210 From three to five hours are required to ‘cut in’ an ordinary school whale.
c. intr. To penetrate or enter sharply or abruptly; esp. so as to make a way for oneself or occupy a position between others. In later use also, to drive a motor-vehicle between two others which are passing each other in opposite directions; more recently, to drive a motor vehicle, cycle, etc., past another and move sharply in front of the overtaken vehicle. Also transf.
1612Drayton Poly-olb. i. 3 Neptune cutting in, a cantle forth doth take. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 117 A huge arme of the Sea, which cutting in betweene the Land by the West, watreth Cornwall on the right hand, and Wales on the left. 1799in Owen Wellesley's Desp. 114 The enemy having cut in between them and Seedasere. 1820Kaleidoscope 25 July 29/2 Amid the din Of drunken coachmen cutting in. 1856G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. iii, After much ‘cutting in’, and shaving of wheels and lashing of horses. 1925Don'ts for Motorists 100 How to avoid accidents... Don't ‘cut in’. 1926Weekly Disp. 5 Sept. 1/1 He is supposed to have been reported for cutting in at the second and eleventh tees. 1931Highway Code 10 Your reluctance to stop dead may tempt you to ‘cut in’ by threading your way between other vehicles. This is a frequent source of accidents. 1954Ibid. 8 Never cut in, that is, do not pull in sharply in front of a moving vehicle which you have just overtaken. 1955R. Bannister First Four Minutes 21, I was unguarded against the man outside me who was cutting in.
d. To interpose or interrupt abruptly in conversation or the like; to strike in. So cut into for cut in to. spec. To have one's name added to a lady's dancing programme; also (orig. U.S.), to supersede a partner during a dance.
1830Galt Lawrie T. v. viii, When Mr. Van Haarlem had finished his compliments, then Mr. Breagle cut in. 1857G. A. Lawrence Guy Livingstone vi. 47 Keeping all her after-supper waltzes for him religiously, though half the men in town were trying to cut in. 1859Farrar J. Home vi, ‘I say, Home’, cut in Kennedy hastily, ‘shall I go?’ 1890R. F. D. Palgrave O. Cromwell xiii. 288 The Royalists had only to wait, ready to cut in when the Levellers had done the work. c1890R. Kipling Phantom 'Rickshaw, etc. (ed. 3) 74 It will save you cutting into my talk. 1896Ade Artie x. 91 He did n't want no one else to cut in. 1919Ladies' Home Jrnl. Sept. 169 All the men want to cut in when she dances. 1920F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side Paradise (1921) i. ii. 70 The dance began... Boys cut in on Isabelle every few feet.
e. Card-playing. To join in a game (of whist) by taking the place of a player cutting out q.v.
1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) I. 277 When the rubber was finished, my mistress was asked to cut in. 1763Brit. Mag. IV. 542 Instead of cutting in to a party of whist, they play the rubbers by rotation. 1870Mod. Hoyle 6 Players cutting in take the chairs of players cutting out.
f. To receive a share (of profits, booty, etc.); also trans. (orig. U.S.), to give (a person) a share; freq. with on. slang.
1890R. D. Blackmore Kit & Kitty III. xiv. 192 The brothers..smiled a sour smile, as much as to say,—‘You don't cut in for any of it.’ 1924R. Lardner How to write Short Stories (1926) 335 They'll cut you in on the big money. 1930I. Goldberg Tin Pan Alley 210 For plugging certain numbers these leaders collect—‘cut in’—on payments and royalties. 1950G. Greene Third Man xiv. 122 Were you going to cut me in on the spoils?
g. trans. To connect (an electric circuit, etc.). Also intr. of a motor.
1910[see sense 57 r].
h. trans. To insert (a scene) into a film sequence. Also transf.
1928Film Weekly 29 Oct. 17/3 These shots I cut in with other and varied material. 1934C. Lambert Music Ho! iv. 262 A picture of the mother crying was ‘cut in’ with a picture of a dripping kitchen tap. 1947D. Lean in O. Blakeston Working for Films 29 Now where would you cut in the close-up of the banana-skin? 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ii. 43 Special [sound] effects are cut in as required. Ibid. vii. 128 We may wish to edit music..to cut in a retake.
56. cut off.
a. trans. To cut so as to take off; to detach by cutting (something material).
to cut off a corner: see corner n.1 2 b.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 401 Ȝif þi hond or þi foot sclaundir þee, kitte it of, and caste it fro þee. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 177 b, Though thou cut of my heed. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 119 To have their noses and eares cut off. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 196 Cutting off the dead Wood. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 895 This hair is his: she cut it off and gave it.
b. To remove, take away, sever, strike off (something immaterial).
1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 98 b, When as I doe cut of so much of myne owne right unto you. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iii. i. 101 Why he that cuts off twenty yeares of life, Cuts off so many yeares of fearing death. a1700Dryden (J.), No vowel can be cut off before another, when we cannot sink the pronunciation of it. 1792Coke & Moore Life J. Wesley i. (ed. 2) 4 Determined..at a single blow to cut off from the established Church every Minister of honesty and conscience.
c. To bring to an end suddenly or abruptly; to put a stop to; to break off, cut short. to cut off an entail: see entail n.2 1.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 17, I had rather cut off all old acquaintance with him. 1611Bible Lam. iii. 53 They haue cut off my life in the dungeon. 1635Stafford Femall Glory (1860) 51 Obedience calls upon me to cut off..this digression. 1647W. Browne tr. Polexander ii. 73 Zabaim, cutting him off, bade him answer succinctly. 1865Mrs. J. H. Riddell World in Church xxvii. 303 You wish to cut off the entail. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 285 [These things] cut off all hopes of a reconciliation.
d. To put to death (suddenly or prematurely), to bring to an untimely end.
c1565Lindesay (Pitscottie) Cron. Scot. (1728) 16 If the Earl of Douglas..had been cutted off suddenly. 1611Bible 1 Sam. xx. 15 When the Lord hath cut off the enemies of Dauid. 1712Addison Spect. No. 483 ⁋2 Why such an one was cut off in the flower of his youth. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. x. 239 His father was cut off at the age of twenty-five.
†e. To shorten, cut short. Obs. rare.
1607Dekker & Webster Westw. Hoe v. Wks. 1873 II. 362 The story of vs both shall bee as good as an olde wiues tale, to cut off our way to London.
f. To intercept, stop the passage or supply of.
1569T. Stocker tr. Diod. Sic. i. iv. 9 Leosthenes seeing that he could not by force winne the towne, straightwaies cut of their victuals. 1780Coxe Russ. Disc. 198 The Chinese.. found means to cut off several straggling parties of Russians. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 495 [They] cut off several vehicles of baggage. 1836–9Dickens Sk. Boz, The Streets iii, At last the company's man came to cut off the water. 1879C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. iii. 29 War..would cut off their wool from the Flemish looms.
g. To interrupt, stop (communication, passage, etc.); to render impossible by interposing an insurmountable obstacle.
1599B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. ii. iii, 'Slight, our presence has cut off the conuoy of the iest. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. vii. 19 He cut off his way, and stopt him from passing further. 1776N. Woodhull in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) I. 260 Cutting off the communication between the army in town and country. 1823J. D. Hunter Captiv. N. Amer. 52 We attempted to cut off their retreat. 1845Lever O'Donoghue (1862) 352, I have sent a strong party..to cut off their advance.
h. To exclude from access, intercourse, view, etc.; to shut out; to debar. spec. To deprive of communication by telephone or telegraph; to disconnect (a telephone).
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 405 You might alledge..some other impediment which cut you off from keeping company. 1709Berkeley Th. Vision §77 The wall interposing cuts off all that prospect of sea and land. 1857W. Collins Dead Secret iii. i. (1861) 66 The first cottage..which was cut off from other houses by a wall all round it. 1859Jephson Brittany vi. 76 Declaring a man a leper, and cutting him off from social intercourse. 1891E. S. Ellis Check 2134 v. 38 The company can't afford to be cut off this way. 1932D. Whipple Greenbanks viii. 91 The telephone had its merits after all; Ambrose could be cut off. 1940Auden Another Time 91 Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone.
i. to cut off with a shilling: to disinherit by bequeathing a shilling (the bequest being a proof that the disinheritance was designed).
[1710Addison Tatler No. 216 ⁋15 My eldest Son John..I do disinherit and wholly cut off from any Part of this my Personal Estate, by giving him a single Cockle Shell.] 1834Hood Tylney Hall (1840) 268 Vowing..to cut him off with a shilling. 1861Geo. Eliot Silas M. iii, I might get you turned out of house and home, and cut off with a shilling.
57. cut out.
a. trans. To cut so as to take out; to excise, extract, or extirpate by cutting (something material). Freq. fig. in recent colloq. use: to stop doing or using (something); to leave off, do without, omit, drop: esp. in imper. phr. cut it out.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xix. 88 With þat knyf he cuttez out a pece of his flesch. c1483Caxton Vocab. 20 He can cutte out the stone. 1662Evelyn Chalcogr. 9 With the Burine one cuts the peece all at once out of the plate. 1707Hearne Collect. 31 Oct., He found the Leaves..cut out. 1711Addison Spect. No. 23 ⁋4 The Pope..ordered his Tongue to be cut out. 1840Liston Elem. Surgery i. (ed. 2) 215 The affected parts..should be cut out. 1903Ade People you Know 82 Cut it out! 1905‘H. McHugh’ You can search Me i. 27 I've been speculating again after faithfully promising her to cut out all the guessing contests. So cut out the yesterday gag. a1910‘O. Henry’ Sixes & Sevens (1916) xviii. 209 To be frank with you, Whatsup, I've cut out the dope. 1914G. Atherton Perch of Devil i. 137 If it were more the primal instinct..so much the worse, the more reason to ‘cut it out’. 1923R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean vi. 110 Will you cut out the booze while you are ashore in Jamaica? 1933Auden Poems (ed. 2) 52 Its no use raising a shout. No, Honey, you can cut that right out. 1937R. Stout Red Box iv. 54 Llewellyn..was expostulating: ‘Now, Dad, cut it out,—now listen a minute.’ 1939D. L. Sayers In Teeth of Evidence 202 ‘The great man himself. London's rising dramatist.’.. ‘Cut it out,’ said Scales. 1970M. Guybon tr. Solzhenitsyn's First Circle xlix. 366 ‘Cut it out!’ said Pryanchikov, struggling violently. ‘I'm sick of prosecutors and trials.’
b. To remove, excise, omit (a portion of a literary work, etc.).
1736Fielding Pasquin 1, I wish you could cut the ghost out, sir. 1779Sheridan Critic ii. ii, Sir, the performers have cut it out. 1886Salmon Introd. N.T. xviii. 380 The parts which it is proposed to cut out are indissolubly connected with those which are left behind. 1891Maude Merciful Divorce 117 Before I cut you out of my will.
c. To surprise and carry off (a ship) from a harbour, etc., by getting between her and the shore.
1748Anson's Voy. ii. iii. 141 How impossible it would prove, either to board or to cut out any vessel protected by a force posted on shore within pistol-shot. 1781F. Burney Lett. Jan., After..cutting a few ships out of Torbay. 1882Stevenson Fam. Stud. Men & Bks. 162 He could not swoop into a parlour and, in the naval phrase, ‘cut out’ a human being from that dreary port.
d. U.S., Australia and N.Z. To detach or separate (an animal) from the herd.
1862E. R. Chudleigh Diary 13 Feb. (1950) i. 28 On the run all day cutting out bullocks we succeeded in yarding about 60. 1867J. T. Thomson Rambles with Philosopher xxvi. 149 We scampered away to the pasture grounds of his cattle, in order to cut out one of the mob for slaughter. 1869Overland Monthly III. 126 Another rides in, selects a stray brand and ‘cuts it out’, by chasing it out with his horse. 1885Pall Mall G. 20 Mar. 3/2 The two best hands will go in and ‘cut out’ the cattle that bear the brand of their employers. 1887Scribner's Mag. II. 508 Cut out, to separate an animal from the herd.
†e. To exclude, debar (from); = cut off. Obs.
1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 47 They in a manner cut themselves out from all advantage of conversation.
f. To get in front of a rival so as to intervene between him and success, or take the first place from him; to out-do, supplant in preference.
A driver or rider who ‘cuts in’, cuts out some one else.
16..Dryden in Birch Milton's Wks. 1738 I. 48 This man [Milton] cuts us all out, and the Antients too. 1845Ld. Houghton in Life (1891) I. 355 The King of the French has lent all the Crown jewels to the duchess, so she will quite cut our Queen out. 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs (1881) 220 He cut out all the other suitors of the duchess.
g. To deprive, do out of.
1815Scott Guy M. ii, The apprizer..cut the family out of another monstrous cantle of their remaining property. 1860A. L. Windsor Ethica iii. 136 Cutting him out of his annual butt of sack.
†h. To divide for distribution. Obs.
1633D. Rogers Treat. Sacraments i. 142 By vertue of Christ cut out and divided to thee.
i. To excavate, carve out; to form by excavation or carving.
1548[see cut n.2 21]. a1648Ld. Herbert Life (1886) 102 The whole forest..was cut out into long walks every way. 1659D. Pell Improv. Sea 159 To what end the Lord did cut out all those Harbours, Creeks, Chanels. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 165 [They] saw the word Magee..and Capt. John cut out under it, upon a tree.
j. To fashion or shape by cutting (out of a piece).
1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 42 b, Although one have clothe, yet can he not have the use of it, except the Tailer cut it out. 1696J. F. Merchant's Ware-ho. 38 How to cut out a Shift out of two Ells of Holland. 1891E. Peacock N. Brendon II. 108 She..could cut out men's shirts. Ibid. 110 She could cut out much better than the ladies themselves.
k. fig. To form, fashion, shape, to carve out.
1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 144 To..Be his owne Caruer, and cut out his way, To find out Right with Wrongs. 1611― Wint. T. iv. iv. 393 By th' patterne of mine owne thoughts, I cut out The puritie of his. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xx. 190 You..expect every..man to be just cut out upon the pattern of..Henry. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xix. 174, I thought it was manners to cut out my behaviour on your pattern.
l. fig. To plan; to prepare (work to be done). Phr. to have (all) one's work cut out: see work n. 30.
1619Relat. betw. Eng. & Germ. Ser. ii. (Camden) 68 How they may by..ill affected subjects cutt us out newe worke in Ireland and Scotland. 1754A. Murphy Gray's-Inn Jrnl. No. 98 ⁋5 The excessive Officiousness of the female World in cutting out Matches. 1795Burke Regic. Peace iv. ad fin. Wks. IX. 126 They will cut out work for one another, and France will cut out work for them all. 1866Carlyle Inaug. Addr. 174 The most unhappy of all men is the man..who has got no work cut out for him in the world.
m. (a) To form or fashion by nature (for a particular purpose). (Usually in pa. pple.)
1645J. Bond Occasus Occid. 61 It was a Country by scituation..cut out for safety. 1708Dr. Smith in Hearne Collect. 23 Dec., You seeme as it were to bee cut out for those studyes. a1715Burnet Own Times (1766) I. 401 He was not cut out for a Court. 1874Burnand My Time xiv. 115 She was cut out for a clergyman's wife.
† (b) To fix upon (for a purpose). Obs.
1667Pepys Diary 2 Sept., They told me both that they had long cut me out for Secretary to the Duke of York.
† n. to cut it out: to flaunt, make a show, cut a dash. Obs.
1619J. Dyke Counter poyson (1620) 39 They must flaunt, and cut it out in apparell, furniture [etc.]. 1679G. R. tr. Boyatuau's Theat. World ii. 149 Cutting it out in their Silks, Perfumes, and Embroideries.
o. intr. To admit of being cut out into shape.
1829Bone Manure, Rep. Doncaster Comm. 31 The whole [manure]..will cut out like a jelly. 1850Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. i. 139 Hay never cuts out so well as when it has been stacked from the field as fast as made.
p. intr. (orig. pass.) Card-playing. To come out of or be excluded from a game (of whist) by cutting an unfavourable card; done in order to allow another player or players to cut in.
1771T. Hull Sir W. Harrington (1797) II. 216 My Lord and I, happening to be cut out at the same time at whist. 1780F. Burney Diary June, Mrs. G―, having cut out at cards..approached us. 1810Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 122 With the same pleasure that a gentleman who has cut out returns to a rubber. 1870Mod. Hoyle 5 (Whist) The fifth and sixth players..have the right to cut into the game when a rubber has been completed by the first four players. This operation is effected by two players cutting out. Cutting out..the players cut and the highest go out, whether two or one.
q. To finish shearing. Also in extended use: trans., to finish; intr., to come to an end. Austral. and N.Z.
1890Melbourne Argus 20 Sept. 13/6 When the stations ‘cut out’, as the term for finishing is. 1896H. Lawson In Days when World was Wide (1900) 47 The cheque was spent that the shearer earned, and the sheds were all cut out. 1919W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 18 Cut-out (vb.), cease. a1925F. S. Anthony Follow Call (1936) xiii. 156 I've never been able to save a cent since I cut out the roll I made with you. 1925R. Rees Lake of Enchantment vi. 94 If they could ‘cut out’ (or in other words get all their shearing over) by the end of the week. 1933Bulletin (Sydney) 31 May 38/3 Tomorrow they would cut out the last of the sheep and the men would be paid off. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 21 To cut out,..to complete any task. 1948Landfall II. 123 After the flax cut out and the mill moved on. 1959H. P. Tritton Time means Tucker iv. 29/1 The last sheep was shorn, the bell rang, the whistle blew and Charlton was cut out. 1963A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 157 The great mines in Victoria..began to cut out..but the miners often remained in the district.
r. trans. To disconnect or switch off (an electric circuit, etc.). Also intr., to switch off; to cease operating.
1910Chambers's Jrnl. May 350/1 By means of a switch near the keyboard the organist can cut the motor in and out as desired. 1912Ibid. Aug. 556/2 The dynamo is cut out automatically. 1917Blackw. Mag. May 804/1 We continued in a westerly direction, with one cylinder still cutting out. 1924A. W. Judge et al. Mod. Motor Cars III. 75 Which causes the hammer to vibrate and to cut-out the battery circuit. 1926H. H. U. Cross Electric Lighting (ed. 4) 264 When the gears are fully enmeshed, the electro-magnet is..cut out by a disconnecting switch. 1928Motor Manual (ed. 27) 110 When the dynamo speed falls below a certain minimum the device cuts out or opens the charging circuit. 1930Daily Express 16 Aug. 5/5 When aero engines were much more liable to cut out and force one down in isolated places. 1935Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 472 There is a danger of the engine cutting out during take-off.
58. cut over.
a. intr. To run or pass across: see 17.
1551–1570 [see 17].
b. trans. To cut down the trees or bushes growing over (an area); to pass over cutting.
1789Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts I. 171 By the time the whole four acres had been cut over. 1889W. Schlich Man. Forestry I. 10 The trees consist of stool shoots or root suckers which are cut over periodically.
c. To strike a person sharply over some part of the body with a weapon or missile; mostly pass.: e.g. to be struck over the legs at hockey, to be struck or hurt by the ball at cricket; to be wounded.
1867J. Lillywhite's Cricketers' Compan. 12 You will..prevent yourself from being cut over in that part which takes all the batting out of you. 1874G. W. Dasent Half a Life I. 122 [At hockey] Now mind you look out..or you'll be cut over. 1890R. Kipling Wee Willie Winkie 66 If he lives, he writes Home that he has been ‘potted’, ‘sniped’, ‘chipped’, or ‘cut over’. 1893Cricket Field 29 July 304 He was cut over twice in rapid succession owing to inequalities in the ground, and inaccuracies in the bowlers.
d. To cut down, throw over with a slashing blow.
1884J. Colborne Hicks Pasha 153 The officer cut over the first with a blow on his neck.
59. cut under. To cut out by underselling. colloq.
1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), To cut under, to undersell in price. New York. 1874Mayhew London Char. 469 (Farmer) The spirit of competition on the part of the masters—the same universal desire to cut under.
60. cut up.
a. trans. To cut so as to take or get up; to root up by cutting; also fig.
1602Marston Ant. & Mel. iv. Wks. 1856 I. 45 Rootes, rootes? alas, they are seeded, new cut up. 1611Bible Job xxx. 4 Who cut vp mallowes by the bushes. 1690Locke Govt. i. xi, This doctrine cuts up all government by the roots. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 15 The law has therefore wisely cut up the root of dissension. 1839Morning Herald 28 Aug., The gum trade..is nearly cut up by the roots.
b. To cut in pieces; to divide into parts by cutting, to carve; to cut open.
1580Baret Alv. C 1876 Cut vp: or winne these partriges. 1611Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl iii. ii, No wild fowl to cut up but mine! 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest iii, Now I'll cut up the onions, for they will make your eyes water. 1885Illust. Lond. News 10 Oct. 362 Every lady and gentleman was instructed how to cut up a turkey, capon or bustard.
c. fig. To divide into parts, destroy the continuity of; to destroy or mar irretrievably.
1813Leigh Hunt in Examiner 19 Apr. 242/2 His night's sleep had been cut up. 1817Faraday in B. Jones Life & Lett. (1870) I. 248 My time is just now so closely cut up. 1864Burton Scot Abr. I. iii. 123 They will very soon cut up and destroy all we have in this country.
d. To overcome with great slaughter, ‘cut to pieces’: see 7 c.
1803Wellington in Owen Wellesley's Desp. 787 A parcel of stragglers cut up our wounded. 1821Blacker Mahratta War i. ix. 155 note, The body of cavalry..employed to cut up the column of infantry.
e. To cut, hack, or gash the surface of irregularly; to damage by or as by cutting.
a1592H. Smith Serm. (1622) 301 Like the plough, which cutteth up the ground that it may receive the seed. 1765Sterne Tr. Shandy VIII. xx, The roads, which were terribly cut up. 1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 104 The ice was much cut up. 1859All Year Round No. 13. 306 The ground was..much cut up between wickets.
† f. To whip up, to incite with the whip. Obs.
1756–66T. Amory Buncle (1770) II. 24 My horse was as good..and I cut him up, and pricked him over the turf.
g. fig. To censure, criticize, or review with destructive severity.
1760Goldsm. Cit. W. xx, The book-answerers..when they have cut up some respectable name. 1782F. Burney Cecilia vii. v. ‘May be..it's out of bashfulness: perhaps he thinks we shall cut him up.’ 1784R. Bage Barham Downs II. 228 The conversation fell naturally..upon Miss Whittaker's affair, and Lord Winterbottom was cut up..without mercy. 1860Sala Lady Chesterf. 55 [The reviewer] savagely cutting up people's books or pictures.
h. To wound deeply the feelings of; to distress greatly. (Usually in pass.)
1844Dickens Christmas Carol i, Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event. 1876F. E. Trollope Charming Fellow II. ix. 127, I believe he was dreadfully cut up at my going away.
†i. to cut up short: to cut short, interrupt.
1607Hieron Wks. I. 197 Shee, beeing..something a shrewd-tongued woman, by and by cut Him vp short.
j. To share (plunder), to divide. slang.
[1779R. Cumberland Wheel of Fort. iv. iii. (Farmer). A gentleman who trusts to servants in his absence is sure to be cut up.] 1879Macm. Mag. XL. 505 (Farmer) We had between sixty and seventy quid to cut up.
k. intr. To admit of being cut up or divided, to turn out as to amount of fortune; properly a butcher's phrase; said of a person after his death. slang.
1782F. Burney Cecilia v. ix, Pray, how does he cut up? What has he left behind him? 1792Gibbon Misc. Wks. I. (1814) 366 Geneva would cut up as fat as most towns in Europe. a1797Burke (T.), The only question..of their legislative butchers, will be, how he cuts up? 1831Disraeli Yng. Duke iv. vii, ‘You think him rich?’ ‘Oh, he will cut up very large,’ said the Baron. 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs vii, The old banker died in course of time, and..‘cut up’ prodigiously well.
l. to cut up rough, rusty, savage, etc.: (intr.) to become angry or quarrelsome. colloq.
1837Dickens Pickw. xlii, I may say I von't pay, and cut up rough. 1849Thackeray Pendennis l, Hang it! you cut up quite savage. 1873Black Pr. Thule vii. 101 ‘Now, Ingram..don't cut up rough about it.’
m. To cut a dash; show off; to behave (in a specified way); to behave badly or indecorously. U.S. colloq.
1787Generous Attachment i. 89 A couple of plough boys..would do, when properly dressed, and cut it up..as well as the best. 1859H. W. Beecher Notes fr. Plymouth Pulpit, I believe I never did cut up so bad any one week as I did that week. 1861Lowell Biglow P. Ser. ii. i, It ain't no use to argerfy ner try to cut up frisky. 1888Howells Likely Story in Harper's Mag. Dec. 26 If you dare to touch them, I'll ring for Jane, and then she'll see you cutting up.
n. Sporting slang. To ‘behave’ (badly, etc.) in a race or competition.
1883Scotsman 11 July 18/1 He cut up badly and can have no chance for the Cup. 1883Illustr. Lond. News 12 May 463/2 (Farmer) Export again cut up wretchedly in the Burwell Stakes.
o. trans. With caper, shines, etc.: to behave in a mischievous or frolicsome manner. U.S.
1775in Narrag. Hist. Reg. III. 263 A man that was in company there the evening before that cut up a caper. 1846D. Corcoran Pickings 28 He vas cutting up all kinds of extra shines.. like these here theatric fellers. 1847[see monkey-shines (monkey n.)]. a1848Knickerbocker (Bartlett), A wild bull of the prairies was cutting up shines at no great distance, tearing up the sod with hoofs and horns. 1851[see dido2]. 1903A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden ii. 11 It was not Ike that cut up the mischief this time. 1945S. Lewis C. Timberlane (1946) xvii. 102 People recognizing you and staring at you cutting up monkey⁓shines!
p. To conduct or manage (a contest) fraudulently. Sporting slang.
1923Daily Mail 16 Jan. 7 Georges Carpentier, M. Descamps, his manager, and M. Hellers, the manager of the coloured boxer Siki, have been acquitted by the French Boxing Federation of having arranged and ‘cut up’ the fight in which Siki was declared victor. 1923Weekly Disp. 13 May 7, I read in newspapers now that more than half the races under National Hunt rules are cut up, and that jockeys and trainers are out to rob the public.
q. intr. Of the surface of the ground: to become broken up irregularly.
1891W. G. Grace Cricket iii. 70 Snow had fallen during the day, and the wicket cut up badly. 1909Moa Flat Estate 36 Six-ton loads went through..before the roads ‘cut up’ and would not bear traffic.
r. to cut up (old) touches: to gossip or reminisce. U.S. slang.
1931D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) viii. 180 They are cutting up old touches. Ibid. xiii. 281 Having a drink together..and..cutting up old touches of the time when they run with the Hudson Dusters together. 1941New Yorker 1 Nov. 27/3 He and Dutch would get together and cut up touches.
s. To cut in front of (another vehicle or its driver), esp. causing it to brake or take other evasive action; to pass recklessly or illegally. colloq.
1939H. Hodge Cab, Sir? xv. 219 To ‘cut a man up’ means much the same as the more official driving term ‘cutting in’. 1975Observer 11 May 1/4 They drove up the inside of a line of traffic waiting to turn right into Ley Road. One of the vehicles they ‘cut up’ turned out to be a ‘nondescript’ (unmarked) police van.
X. Phraseological expressions and combinations containing the verb-stem.
61. cut-and-come-again. n. phr.
a. The act or faculty of cutting (from a joint of meat, etc.) and of returning to help oneself as often as one likes; hence, unfailing supply, abundance; also fig. or attrib.
b. A variety of kale.
1738Swift Pol. Conversat. iii. 121, I vow, 'tis a noble sirloyn. Ay; here's cut and come again, Miss. 1827S. P. in Hone Every-day Bk. II. 54 A ham..is a cut-and-come-again dish, ready at hand. 1841Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. iv, Always happy to see a friend in our plain way,—pale sherry, old port, and cut and come again. 1861Sala Dutch Pict. xv. 241 You cut your steak off hot from the living animal, on the cut and come again principle. 1886F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-Bk. 177 Cut and come again, a very prolific variety of kale or winter greens; much grown in cottage gardens. 1959Listener 21 May 911/1 Here is a delicious way to cook cut-and-come-again (or cottage kale).
62. cut-and-cover.
a. Agric. A method of ploughing in which the furrow-slice is turned over on an unploughed strip (see sense 9 d above). U.S.
b. Engineering. A method of constructing a tunnel by making a cutting in which the brickwork lining is built and then covered in: employed with advantage when the depth below the surface is comparatively small.
1839J. Buel Farmer's Comp. xiii. 113 The cut-and-cover practice is still worse as it leaves..two thirds of the soil, undisturbed by the plough. 1877Rep. Vermont Board Agric. IV. 93 The old Dutch wooden plow..[was] used among the stumps and roots of the newish lands, with the plowman's ideal of cut and cover. 1892Daily News 2 Nov. 2/8 Certain portions of this work..could be much better and more cheaply executed by the method of cut-and-cover. Ibid. 22 Nov. 3/1 Excavating what is technically called the ‘cut and cover’ portion of the work—the portion of the tunnel, that is to say..cut out, arched over, and covered in again.
63. cut-and-fill: the process or result of removing material from a place and depositing it near by (see quots.); also as vb.
1904Chamberlin & Salisbury Geol. (1905) I. iii. 183 This is cut-and-fill. The sediment eroded from the curve which is concave toward the stream is shifted down-stream, while that deposited in the curve which is convex toward the stream is brought down from above. 1934Webster, Cut and fill, to construct, as a stadium, by using material excavated from the center to form walls. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 218/1 Cut-and-fill, a term used to describe any cross-section of highway or railroad earthworks which is partly in cutting and partly in embankment. 1965G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. vii. 80/1 The existence of current-bedding, imbricate arrangement of pebbles, cut-and-fill bedding, and scour channels.
64. cut and thrust: see cut n.2 2 c.
65. Comb.
a. with object noun, = ‘that which or he who cuts{ddd}’ as cut-air, cut-beard, cut-caper, cut-girdle, cut-nose; cutpurse, cutthroat, cutwater;
b. = ‘{ddd}used to cut, cutting’, as cut-whip, cut-grass.
a1661B. Holyday Juvenal 266 A cut-purse..is by Plautus..called..a cut-girdle. 1665Hooke Microgr. 174 The biggest stem of all the wing, and may be properly enough call'd the cut-air. a1678Marvell Poems, Brit. & Raleigh, And Commons' votes shall cut-nose guards disband. 1693Shadwell Volunteers i. ii, Her sense and breeding is fit for none but a cutcaper. 1767S. Paterson Another Trav. I. 39 Not one..greasy, lying, tale-bearing..newsmonger cut-beard is to be found. 1887Pall Mall G. 5 Aug. 3/1 A light, thin, supple whalebone cut whip.
▸ trans. Computing. To use a function which deletes (text, graphics, etc.) from a document, esp. so as to insert a copy of it elsewhere (cf. paste v. 2c). Also intr.
1975Business Week 30 June 82 Hit a button called ‘cut’, and the word or paragraph disappears. Punch another button labeled ‘paste’ and the paragraph or word is inserted into the text where the pointer is located. 1993MacUser Oct. 165/2 When text is copied or cut, the creating application throws it onto the Clipboard in its native format as well as in a text-only version minus the formatting. 1997J. Seabrook Deeper i. 29 In 1988 I bought a Mac of my own... I learned to ‘Cut’ and to ‘Paste’. 2005N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 21 Oct. Another partner to these is Ctrl X, which cuts the text.
▸ to cut and paste. a. To cut out (printed material) from one document, book, etc., and paste it into another, esp. during the composition of a printed work; (in extended use) to remove and replace elsewhere. Hence: to assemble or change by these means, esp. as a quick, expedient, or perfunctory way of doing something.
1772Younger Brother II. 166 This was only cutting and pasting, as I used to call it: For when I met with any passages in preceding authors that suited my present purpose, without ceremony I cut the books to pieces, and, by adding a connecting sentence or two of my own, tacked the copy together,..and sent it to the press. 1778R. Lewis Candid Philosopher II. 187 Those honest Booksellers, who give Employment to able-bodied Compilers in cutting and pasting Papers together for their Emolument. 1832Ariel 7 Jan. 305/1 Surrounded by..the whole of the periodical publications, he [sc. the editor]..commences the business of the day. Reading, selecting, cutting and pasting. 1884Iowa State Reporter (Waterloo) (Electronic text) 8 May Ex-President Hayes is said to have a more elaborate set of scrap books..than any other public man in the country... He kept one of his clerks constantly busy cutting and pasting slips from the newspapers. 1950J. Lawler H. W. Wilson Company vi. 95 Each entry on the gummed-paper set of proofs was then cut and pasted on the corresponding piece of copy. 1976Jrnl. Philos. 73 148 The notions of truth and of truth conditions are theoretical auxiliaries, to be cut and pasted in whatever ways give us the nicest account of the assertability conditions. 1993Coloradoan (Fort Collins) 12 Dec. e4/1 The result was a new disease-resistant tomato, and another level of refinement in the ability to cut and paste genes. 2008Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 17 May 3 Broad sheets filled with his squarish handwriting and with revisions that were cut and pasted, like bandages, on thin strips of paper.
b. Computing. To move (text, graphics, etc.) by deleting it from a document and inserting a copy of it elsewhere in a single operation. Cf. paste v. 2c.
1981Computer Music Jrnl. 5 57/2 As the score is built up, its current image appears on the Dorado's screen, where it can be scrolled, cut and pasted, and amended. 1984S. Curran Word Processing for Beginners i. 4 If you don't like that first draft, you can ‘cut and paste’ the sections, altering the order, adding new paragraphs..and so on. 1992CU Amiga May 116/2 After positioning the text on-screen it can be cut and pasted. 2007Your Family Tree July 68/1 Either type your text or cut and paste it from another program.
▸ trans. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.). To manage, cope with, perform, or accomplish (something). Chiefly in to cut it: to succeed, to deal with something effectively; to meet an expected or required standard in the performance of a task, to measure up. Cf. sense 21c and to cut the mustard at mustard n. 3c.
1900C. L. Cullen Tales of Ex-tanks 62 Hello, there, pal..how're you cuttin' it this morning? 1906Independent (N.Y.) 29 Nov. 1270/1 He can't cut that game with me. 1929W. R. Burnett Little Caesar vi. iii. 232 ‘Listen, can't you do me a favor and get me a pack of cigs.’.. ‘Can't cut it.’ 1937Amer. Speech 12 46 This arrangement is so tough my band can't cut it. 1975H. Ellison Gentleman Junkie 182 He doesn't look like he can cut three, four hundred miles of hard driving and still stay alert. 1980L. Cody Dupe (1981) xviii. 128 She came to London to find a bit of glamour and some action, and when she got here she was afraid she couldn't cut it. 2000Guardian (Dar es Salaam) 27 Mar. 18/1 Others were more critical of the plan. ‘The whole idea is not going to cut it,’ said opposition leader Chee Soon Juan.
▸ intr. orig. U.S.to cut to the chasecompare sense 21e: (a) Film to cut to a chase scene; (hence) to cut to an interesting or fast-paced part of a film; (b) colloq. to get to the point, to get on with it; to concentrate on the essential elements of an issue, etc.; freq. imper.
1929J. P. McEvoy Hollywood Girl 106 Jannings escapes... Cut to chase. 1955F. Scully Cross my Heart xxix. 341, I am the sort who wants to ‘cut to the chase’ As far as I'm concerned, we can read the instructions later. 1979Newsweek (Nexis) 13 Aug. 73 ‘Would you or would you not be interested in perhaps a bit of hypothetical conversation?’.. ‘Please delete the ‘hypothetical’ part and cut to the chase.’ 1981N.Y. Times 6 Nov. c13 Darryl Zanuck used to tell film makers, ‘If you're in trouble, cut to the chase.’ 1991C. Hiaasen Native Tongue (1992) viii. 83 Cut to the chase... What the hell is it you want us to do? 1999Marketing 16 Dec. 14/3 Stop bullshitting and cut to the chase.
▪ IV. cut, ppl. a.|kʌt|
[Pa. pple. of cut v.]
1. a. Gashed or wounded with a sharp-edged instrument; having an incision made in it.
c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1838) 47/1 To bind up a cut finger. 1889F. Treves Man. Surgery (ed. 6) II. xi. 473 The ordinary cut throat of the suicide or homicide.
b. esp. Of clothes, etc.: Having the edges or other parts purposely indented or slashed, for ornament or as a fashion.
1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxvi. 233 Short clothes and streyte wastyd dagged and kyt, and on euery syde slatered. 1528Tindale Parable Wicked Mammon Wks. I. 103 In a visor, in a disguised garment, and a cut shoe. 1573G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 6 His kut dublets. a1627Middleton Mayor of Q. v. i, You'd both need wear cut clothes. 1678Lond. Gaz. No. 1273/4 Another Apron laced with cut and slash Lace.
c. Of leaves and other natural objects: Having the margins deeply indented and divided.
1565–73Cooper Thesaurus, Alcea..marsh mallow: or cut mallow. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Malvavisco salvage cut mallowes. 1796Withering Brit. Plants IV. 38 Leaves small, cut, hoary. 1867Babington Man. Brit. Bot. (ed. 6) 160 Ovate cut or pinnatifid leaflets.
2. a. That has been subjected to cutting; affected or modified by cutting.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 87 Easie it is Of a cut loafe to steale a shiue we know. 1803Sporting Mag. XXI. 326 Cut⁓cards..cards..having the good cards..all cut shorter, and the bad ones cut something narrower. 1881Daily News 1 Sept. 3/3 In the Bank of England..buyers having now to choose between..Napoleons and German 20 marks at 76s. 6½d., and cut sovereigns at 77s. 10½d. 1892Pall Mall G. 5 Aug. 3/1 Cut cloth is canvas painted, from which the carpenters cut away all portions which are not touched with paint.
b. Of money: see cut-money (12 a below). U.S.
1844in C. Cist Cincinnati Misc. (1845) I. 6/1 As late as 1806..the business house in Philadelphia in which I was apprentice, received over one hundred pounds of cut silver.
3. a. Formed, shaped, fashioned, or made by cutting; having the surface shaped or ornamented by grinding and polishing, as cut glass; also (transf., colloq.) an affected expression or mode of speech; also (with hyphen) attrib. cut velvet: velvet having the pile cut so as to form patterns. † cut river: a canal.
1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 7 By making Cut Rivers Navigable in all places where Art can possibly effect it. 1717Berkeley Tour in Italy Wks. IV. 515 The gardens..have fine cut walks. 1800M. Symes Acct. Embassy to Ava xvi. 382 A handsome girandole of cut glass. 1802C. Wilmot Let. 3 Jan. in T. U. Sadleir Irish Peer (1920) 22 The Room lighted by a handsome cut glass Lustre. 1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. 81 The masonry is, as usual with the Romans, stratified in alternate courses of cut-stone and brick-work. 1840Thackeray Catherine viii, The cut-velvet breeches. 1845C. Knight Capital & Labour 169 Cut-glass is now comparatively..cheap. 1874Knight Dict. Mech., Cut-nail, a nail cut from a nail-plate, in contradistinction to one forged from a nail-rod. 1875Mrs. Stowe We & Neighbors xxxii. 303, I arranged it in my high cut-glass dish and covered it with foamy billow of whites of eggs. 1945Dylan Thomas Let. 30 July (1966) 282 A position or positions—cut-glass for job or jobs. 1957Granta 9 Mar. 20/1 All I can remember now is a cut-glass decanter stopper. 1962John o' London's 24 May 507/2 An impeccable cut-glass accent. 1966‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse 96 She talks cut glass.
b. cut bank: see quot. 1932. N. Amer.
1819N. Amer. Rev. VIII. 11 The Nottoway at Cut Bank Bridge. 1837S. Cumings Western Pilot 66 You pass close by this cut bank of the bar. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xv. 127 In about a minute I come a-booming down on a cut bank with..big trees on it... That cut bank was an island. 1897Medicine Hat (Alberta) News 28 Jan. 1/6 The horse on which he was riding went over the cut bank near the iron bridge. 1932Dialect Notes VI. 228 Cut-bank. This word (variously spelled cutbank, cut-bank, and cut bank) is often used for the outer bank at the bend of a stream, the bank which the stream cuts into, leaving the opposite side flat. 1968R. M. Patterson Finlay's River 26 On the right bank of the Parsnip [River] there is a high cutbank, a sand-and-gravel cliff.
c. cut paper, paper cut into a desired shape, usually for decorative purposes. Also (with hyphen) attrib.
1847E. Brontë Wuthering Heights I. xiii. 323 A fireplace hung with cut paper dropping to pieces. 1891Kipling Light that Failed (1900) 9 The boy who..had decorated Amomma's horns with cut-paper ham-frills. 1962Times 31 May 16/4 The marvellous cut-paper experiments in pure colour which are far more familiar in America than here. 1967E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 28 When working out designs in cut paper.
4. Divided into pieces by cutting.
c1440Promp. Parv. 111 Cutte a-sundere, scissus. 1659Lovelace Poems (1864) 166 Then let me be Thy cut anatomie. 1840F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. II. 85 Enclosing the cut leaf in the delicate husk of the Indian-corn. 1847–78Halliwell Cut-meat, hay; fodder; chaff cut into short lengths. North. Mod. A heap of cut fire-wood.
5. a. Severed or detached by cutting; lopped off.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 167 A kitt braunche. 1845Florist's Jrnl. 13 The unhealthiness attributed to cut flowers, when introduced into..sleeping-rooms. 1878Emerson in N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 405 A show of cut flowers.
b. cut and laid, of a hedge: see lay v.1 6 b. Also ellipt., a hedge made in this manner.
1919Masefield Reynard ii. 73 Robin made Pip [sc. his horse] go crash through the cut and laid. 1927Daily Express 31 Oct. 9 Neat-cropped grass fields split by ‘cut and laid’ fences.
6. a. Shortened, lessened, or reduced by, or as by cutting; curtailed; cut down. Of prices, etc.: reduced (orig. U.S.). Hence cut-price, -rate adjs., having, or offered at, reduced prices; also fig.
1646Crashaw Steps to Temple 54 Short-cut lives of murder'd infants. 1881Chicago Times 12 Mar., The New York Central..has been meeting the cut rate made via Baltimore. 1884Pall Mall G. 1 Oct. 5/2 Parliament will accept..the cutting of the coupon, but the guarantee of the cut coupon—that is altogether another affair. a1889Boston Jrnl. (Farmer), The plain people who enjoy a spectacular, musical, and dramatic season at cut rates. 1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 684 No wholesale house can meet our cut prices. 1904Westm. Gaz. 27 May 10/2 The policy of the ‘cut-rate’ may continue. 1904Daily Chron. 15 June 7/3 One out of every eighty of the cut-rate arrivals was ordered back to Europe. 1910Sat. Even. Post 10 Sept. 76/2 Tricky cut-price operators..selling below living prices. 1930R. Simmat Personal Salesmanship 85 If a salesman once..gives a cut price he will..be always expected to give a cut price. 1934J. B. Priestley English Journey 17 A number of blatant cut-price shops, their windows crammed with goods, mostly inferior and dubious, and loud with placards. 1958New Statesman 30 Aug. 238/3 Their decision to offer unsecured personal advances at, in effect, cut-rates. 1963A. Ross Australia 63 19 M.C.C.'s batsmen were offered only cut-price bowling, and they savaged it accordingly. 1964Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 8/2 Giving the consumer more of a choice between ‘quality’ and cut-rate shopping.
b. Diluted; adulterated. (Cf. cut v. 22 b.) Chiefly U.S.
1938H. Asbury Sucker's Progr. 343 Suckers..paid exorbitant prices for cut and adulterated liquor. 1969D. Bagley Spoilers vi. 180 ‘This is morphine.’ ‘Cut or uncut?’ asked Follet. ‘It's pure—or as pure as you can make the stuff in a slum like this.’
7. Castrated.
1624Nero iv. i. (1888) 56 Your cut-boy Sporus. Mod. A cut horse.
8. slang. Drunk, intoxicated.
1673R. Head Canting Acad. 171 He is flaw'd, fluster'd, Cup shot, cut in the leg or back. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Cut, Drunk; Deep Cut..Cut in the Leg or Back, very drunk. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) I. 134 Your excellency was a little cut, but you broke up much the strongest of the company. 1823Lockhart Reg. Dalton i. vii. (1842) 36 I'm sure we had not much more than a bottle apiece..I was not cut. 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs xlviii, I was so cut last night.
†9. cut and long tail: lit. horses or dogs with cut tails and with long tails; hence fig. all sorts of people. Obs.
1575Laneham Let. (1871) 25 The rest of the band..tag and rag, cut & long tail. 1579U. Fulwell Ars Adulandi 1, Yea, even their very dogs, Rug, Rig, and Risbie, yea, cut and long-taile, they shall be welcome. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. iv. 47, I that I will, come cut and long-taile, vnder the degree of a 'Squire. 1698Vanbrugh æsop. iv. ii, Your worship has six coach-horses (cut and long-tail,) two runners, half-a-dozen hunters. 1699Farquhar Const. Couple ii. iv, I whipped all the whores, cut and long tail, out of the parish.
10. a. cut and dried (also cut and dry): originally referring to herbs in the herbalists' shops, as contrasted with growing herbs; hence, fig. ready-made and void of freshness and spontaneity; also, ready shaped according to a priori formal notions. (Usually of language, ideas, schemes or the like.)
1710J. B. Let. to Sacheverell 13 Your Sermon was ready Cut and Dry'd. 1730Swift Poems, Betty the Grizette, Sets of Phrases, cut and dry, Evermore thy Tongue supply. 1796Wolcott (P. Pindar) A Satire Wks. 1812 III. 408 Phrases ready cut and dried. 1883St. James' Gaz. 1 Dec. 3/1 A Socialist, but a Socialist who has no cut-and-dry scheme of Socialism. 1887Jessopp Arcady vii. 191 Quite enough to scatter my cut and dried theories to the winds.
b. ellipt. as n. (cut and dry) = cut and dried tobacco, etc.
1725Ramsay Gent. Sheph. ii. i, Ye've coft a pund o cut and dry. a1735Arbuthnot Misc. Wks. (1751) II. 123 Isaac extolls her out of a Quartern of Cut and Dry every day she lives.
c. Hence cut-and-driedness. nonce-wd.
1882Saintsbury Short Hist. French Lit. Interchapter iv. 504 The reduction of..important departments in literature to a condition of cut-and-driedness which has no parallel in history.
11. With adverbs: see cut v. 51–60. See also cut-away, cut-out, cut-under.
1743W. Ellis Mod. Husb. Oct. v. 147 The great Importance of curing cut down Wheat in the Field, is..known to the meanest Rustic. 1809Naval Chron. XXII. 90 The Regulus, a cut down 44. 1823G. S. Faber Dispensations (1849) II. 104 Like a cut-down plant. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. xxxv, A cut-up plum-cake. 1874Knight Dict. Mech., Cut-in Notes (Printing), notes which occupy spaces taken out of the text, whose lines are shortened to give room therefor. 1932W. Faulkner Light in August (1952) vii. 143 The small figure in cutdown underwear. 1941J. Cary House of Children iii. 10 Wild hordes of mountain children in their father's cut-down trousers. 1949F. Maclean Eastern Approaches ii. iii. 200 A new, cut-down Ford station waggon.
12. Comb.,
a. qualifying a n., as cut cloth, drop (see quot. 1961); † cut-fowl = insect; cut-money U.S. (see quot. 1822); cut-rock (see quot. 1837); cut-rope Naut., = painter2; cut sheet (rubber), rubber cut into sheets from a pressed block;
b. similar combinations used attrib., as cut-finger, cut-flower, cut-glass (see 3 a), cut-leaf, cut-paper (see 3 c), cut-pile, cut-steel, cut-tail (also = ‘cut-tail dog’); cut-card, applied to a type of relief decoration on silverware, etc., in which a thin sheet of metal is cut ornamentally and soldered to the surface;
c. parasynthetic derivatives of these as cut-fingered, cut-leaved, cut-lugged (Sc. = crop-eared), cut-nosed (= slit-nosed), cut-tailed, etc. See also cut-lips, cut-waist, etc.
1920Catal. Eng. Silversmiths' Work (V. & A. Mus.) 18 Another method of decoration was that known as ‘*cut-card’ work, the decoration being cut out from a separate sheet of metal. 1939Oxoniensia IV. 201 A candle-cup, of 1672, with fine ‘cut-card’ decoration. 1956G. Taylor Silver v. 135 The Parisian goldsmiths..effected a monumental elegance..due to an admirable harmony... Perhaps the most attractive..is cut-card work, a term used to describe flat patterns of sheet metal applied to the body of the object to be decorated. 1969R. Mayer Dict. Art Terms & Techniques 103 Cut-card work, a decorative technique in metalwork in which a design cut out of a sheet of metal is superimposed on the surface of an object of the same metal, usually around a protuberance such as a handle or a finial. Cut-card work is used almost exclusively for silver.
1884J. Hatton Irving's Imp. Amer. I. vii. 165 The well-known Hampton Court cloth [in ‘Charles I’] was so perfect..that it was regarded as a *cut cloth, with ‘raking’ and water-pieces. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage xi. 143 The drop-scenes, cut-cloths, and borders..became as obsolete as the ‘aside’ in acting. 1961Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 89 Cut cloth, cut-cloth, a British term for a cut drop.
1961Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 90 *Cut drop, a drop painted and then cut out so that the spectator sees a scene formed not only by this drop but also by whatever is placed behind it.
1883Jefferies Nature near London 44 [They] call the foliage of the knotted figwort *cutfinger leaves, as they are believed to assist the cure of a cut or sore.
1591Nashe Introd. Sidney's Astr. & Stella, 'Tis as good to go in *cut-fingered pumps as cork shoes, if one wear Cornish diamonds on his toes.
1902Westm. Gaz. 4 Apr. 8/1 The *cut-flower trade. 1970W. E. Shewell-Cooper Cut Flowers for House i. 9 The keen cut-flower gardener should expect to have blooms and foliage from his garden from March to October at least.
1587Golding De Mornay ix. 124 Smal things, as Woorms, *Cutfoules, and such other.
1897G. B. Sudworth Arborescent Flora U.S. 261 Robinia pseudacacia dissecta..*Cutleaf Locust. 1923E. F. Wyatt Invis. Gods 16 Mountain ash and cut-leaf birch flickered their light foliage.
1731P. Miller Gard. Dict. I. s.v. Lilac, Lilac, with cut Leaves, falsely call'd, The *Cut-leav'd Persian Jasmine... The Cut-leav'd Sort..having its older Leaves deeply cut in. 1870Hooker Stud. Flora 174 The ‘Cut-leaved Elder’.
1814Scott Wav. xxx, Ye *cut-lugged, graning carles!
1809in W. Littell Statute Law of Kentucky (1814) IV. 45 To pay *cut money into the public treasury. 1822J. Woods Eng. Prairie 230 We found change at these towns very scarce; what there was, was mostly cut-money; that is, when change is wanted they often cut dollars, half-dollars, and quarter-dollars, into smaller pieces with an ax or chisel. 1824W. N. Blane Excursion 257, I was obliged to cut a silver dollar, into quarters, and even into eighths; a practice so common in the Western States, that the cut-money as it was called, was the only change that could be had in Missouri.
1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Desnarigado, *cut nosed.
1880E. J. Reed Japan II. 223 Silk and *cut-pile fabrics.
1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 200 All these basaltic channels are called *cut rocks by the trappers. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxxi, We found the path strewed with loose cut⁓rock.
1909Westm. Gaz. 3 July 2/2 The *cut-rope [painter] of an old boat is apt to be very rotten. Ibid. 21 Aug. 2/2 Benjie ran into the water for the cut-rope.
1900*Cut sheet [see sheet n.1 9 c]. 1907H. L. Terry India-Rubber xii. 161 Cut sheet rubber.
1748Smollett Rod. Rand. II. xliv. 79 A fourth [sword] *cut steel inlaid with gold. 1896Westm. Gaz. 10 Dec. 3/2 A cut-steel buckle. 1925W. de la Mare Connoisseur (1926) 334 The cut-steel brooch of coloured gems.
1530Palsgr. 211/2 *Cuttayled beest, queve courte. 1627Drayton Agincourt, etc. 143 His gamesome cut-tayld Curre. Ibid. 152 Whistles Cut-tayle from his play. 1712Lond. Gaz. No. 4997/4 A Bay Mare..cut Tail'd.
▸ cut lunch n. Austral. and N.Z. a packed lunch, typically consisting of sandwiches.
1937Bulletin (Sydney) 30 June 21/1 Three hours' paddock work to develop an appetite for a ‘*cut’ lunch eaten on the job. 1983K. Francis Wildlife Ranger 2 The midday meal was more often a cut lunch eaten on the job. 2004T. McKinley Undercurrents ix. 81 Olivia asked Lila for a cut lunch, so reckon they've made a day of it. |