a road, passage, etc., that leaves another, usually providing a shortcut: Let's take the cutoff to Baltimore.
a new and shorter channel formed in a river by the water cutting across a bend in its course.
a point, time, or stage serving as the limit beyond which something is no longer effective, applicable, or possible.
cutoffs, Also cut-offs . shorts made by cutting the legs off a pair of trousers, especially jeans, above the knees and often leaving the cut edges ragged.
Accounting. a selected point at which records are considered complete for the purpose of settling accounts, taking inventory, etc.
Baseball. an infielder's interception of a ball thrown from the outfield in order to relay it to home plate or keep a base runner from advancing.
Machinery. arrest of the steam moving the pistons of an engine, usually occurring before the completion of a stroke.
Electronics. (in a vacuum tube) the minimum grid potential preventing an anode current.
Rocketry. the termination of propulsion, either by shutting off the propellant flow or by stopping the combustion of the propellant.
adjective
being or constituting the limit or ending: a cutoff date for making changes.
Origin of cutoff
First recorded in 1735–45; noun use of verb phrase cut off
Words nearby cutoff
cutline, cutlips minnow, cut loose, cut nail, cut no ice, cutoff, cut off one's nose to spite one's face, cut-offs, cut off with a shilling, cut of one's jib, cut one's losses
Separate from others, isolate, as in The construction debris cut off the workers from the canteen, or The new sect was cut off from the church. [Late 1500s]
2
Stop suddenly, discontinue, as in He quickly cut off the engine, or The drama was cut off by a news flash about tornado warnings. [Late 1500s]
3
Shut off, bar, Their phone was cut off when they didn't pay the bill, or Tom's father threatened to cut off his allowance. [c. 1600]
4
Interrupt the course or passage of, intercept, as in The operator cut us off, or The shortstop cut off the throw to the plate. [Late 1500s]
5
Also, cut off with a shilling or cent. Disinherit, as in Grandfather cut him off with a shilling. This usage dates from the early 1700s; the purpose of bequeathing one shilling (a small sum) was to indicate that the heir had not been overlooked but was intentionally being disinherited. In America cent was substituted from about 1800 on.