cut and dry or cut and dried

1. Ready made
2. Fixed beforehand, decided in advance

cut and paste

1. (in the design of page layouts for newspapers, magazines, etc) a method of arranging areas of text, illustrations, etc by cutting and sticking down with paste
2. (in word processing, DTP, etc) a technique for moving blocks of text, etc

cut and run

To be off or escape quickly

cut and thrust

1. (in fencing) the use of the edges and the point of the weapon
2. Swift, shrewd and cleverly-calculated action or reaction, argument, etc (cut-and-thrustˈ adjective)

cut back

1. To prune close to the stem
2. To revert to a previous scene
3. To reduce (expenditure, etc)

cut both ways

(of a decision, action, situation, etc) to have or result in both advantages and disadvantages

cut corners

1. To turn corners by the quickest way, not keeping close to the edge of the road
2. To do something (eg a piece of work) with the minimum of effort and expenditure and therefore often imperfectly

cut dead

To refuse to recognize or acknowledge (another person)

cut down

1. To bring down by cutting
2. To reduce, curtail
3. To maim or kill

cut down to size

To cause (a person) to feel less important or to be less conceited

cut from the same cloth

Very similar in nature

cut in

1. To interpose
2. (of an electrical device) to begin working automatically
3. To deprive someone of a dancing partner
4. To intercept on the telephone
5. To manoeuvre into a line of traffic in front of an overtaken vehicle, etc, esp without adequate warning or indication
6. To come into a game by cutting a card
7. To give a share

cut it (slang)

To succeed or manage

cut it fine

To take risks by leaving insufficient margin for error

cut it out (informal)

To make an end of it, leave off

cut it too fat

To overdo a thing

cut loose

To break free from constraints

cut no ice see under ice

cut off

1. To sever
2. To isolate
3. To put to an end prematurely
4. To intercept
5. To stop
6. (of an electrical device) to stop working, usu automatically, esp as a safety measure
7. To disinherit

cut off with a shilling

1. To bequeath only a shilling
2. To disinherit

cut one's coat according to one's cloth

To adapt oneself to (esp financial) circumstances

cut one's losses

To have done with an unprofitable venture

cut one's stick

To take one's departure

cut one's teeth (on) (informal)

1. To gain experience (by means of)
2. To practise (on)

cut out

1. To shape
2. To contrive
3. To debar
4. To block (light, etc)
5. To supplant
6. To separate from a herd
7. To pass out of a game on cutting a card
8. To pass out of a line of traffic in order to overtake
9. To capture and carry off (a ship) as from a harbour, etc, by getting between her and the shore
10. (of an engine) suddenly to stop functioning

cut out for

Naturally fitted for

cut short

1. To abridge
2. To make short by cutting
3. To silence by interruption

cut teeth

To have teeth grow through the gums, as an infant

cut to the chase

To get to the point

cut up

1. To cut into pieces
2. To criticize severely
3. To turn out (well or ill) when divided into parts
4. (in passive) to be deeply distressed
5. To make jokes, play tricks or behave in a boisterous manner (N American)
6. To drive recklessly in front of (another vehicle) causing danger to it (slang)

cut up rough

To take something amiss, become difficult or angry

draw cuts (archaic)

To cast lots

make the cut (golf)

To qualify for the final round(s) of a tournament

miss the cut (golf)

To fail to qualify for the final round(s) of a tournament

short cut see under short

dry /drī/

adjective (drīˈer; drīˈest)

1. Without water or liquid, contained or adhering
2. Free from or deficient in moisture, sap or rain
3. Thirsty
4. Out of water
5. Failing to yield water, or milk, or other liquid
6. (of a fruit) not fleshy
7. Not green
8. (of eg toast) unbuttered
9. Not drawing blood
10. (of wines, etc) free from sweetness and fruity flavour
11. (of beer) brewed by a method that removes the bitter taste, aftertaste and smell of traditional beer
12. Legally forbidding the liquor trade (informal)
13. Enforcing or subjected to prohibition
14. Uninteresting
15. Frigid, precise, formal
16. (of humour) quiet, restrained, uttered in a matter-of-fact way, as if not intended to be humorous
17. (of manner) distantly unsympathetic
18. (of a cough) not producing catarrh
19. (of natural gas) containing only small amounts of liquid constituents

transitive verb (dryˈing; dried)

To free from or empty of water or moisture (often with off)

intransitive verb

1. To become dry (often with off)
2. To evaporate entirely

noun (pl dries)

1. A prohibitionist
2. A person who favours strict adherence to hardline right-wing Conservative policies (Brit politics)

drīˈer or dryˈer noun

1. Someone who or something that dries
2. A machine for extracting moisture from cloth, grain, etc
3. A drying agent for oils, paint, etc

drīˈly or dryˈly adverb

In a dry manner

dryˈing noun and adjective

dryˈish adjective

dryˈness noun

Dryˈasdust noun

1. A character in the prefatory matter of some of Scott's novels
2. A dull, pedantic, learned person (also adjective)

dry battery noun (elec)

A battery composed of dry-cells

dryˈbeat transitive verb (obsolete; Shakespeare, etc)

To drub, but without shedding blood

dryˈ-biˈble noun

A disease of horned cattle in which the third stomach, or bible, is very dry

dry blowing noun

The use of a current of air to separate particles of mineral (esp gold) from the material in which it is found

dry bob noun

At Eton, a boy who plays cricket during the summer term (cf wet bob)

dryˈ-cell noun (elec)

An electric cell in which the electrolyte is not a liquid but a paste

dryˈ-clean transitive verb

To clean (clothes, etc) using eg a petroleum-based solvent rather than water

dryˈ-cleaner noun

dryˈ-cleaning noun

dry construction noun (building)

The use of timber or plasterboard for partitions, lining of walls and ceilings, to eliminate the traditional use of plaster and the consequent drying-out period (also dry lining)

dryˈ-cupping noun (old medicine)

Application of cups without previous scarification

dryˈ-cure transitive verb

To cure by drying

dry distillation noun

Destructive distillation (qv under destruction)

dry dock noun

A dock from which the water can be pumped, in order to effect repairs to the underside of a ship

dryˈ-dock transitive verb

To put in a dry dock

dryˈ-eyed adjective

Tearless

dry farming noun

A system of tillage in dry countries, surface soil being kept constantly loose, so as to retain scanty rains and reduce evaporation

dryˈ-fist noun (obsolete)

A niggard

dry-fistˈed adjective and adverb (obsolete)

Taking payment for gains and owing for losses

dryˈ-fly adjective

(of fishing) without sinking the fly in the water

dryˈ-foot adverb (Shakespeare)

By scent of the foot alone

dry goods plural noun

Drapery and the like distinguished from groceries, etc

dry hole noun

1. A well that does not yield commercially viable quantities of oil or gas
2. An unsuccessful project (figurative)

dry ice, dry-iced see under ice

drying oils plural noun

Vegetable or animal oils that harden by oxidation when exposed to air

drying-up cloth noun

A cloth or towel for drying dishes, a dishtowel

dry land noun

Land as opposed to sea

dry light noun (archaic)

1. An undeceptive light
2. An unprejudiced view

dry lining see dry construction above.

dry Mass or dry service noun

Missa sicca, a rite in which there is neither consecration nor communion

dry measure noun

A system of measure by bulk, used for grain, etc (see eg bushel¹, peck², pint)

dry monsoon see under monsoon

dryˈmouth noun

Xerostomia

dryˈ-nurse noun

A nurse who does not suckle (also transitive verb)

dryˈ-plate noun

A sensitized photographic plate, with which a picture may be made without the preliminary use of a bath

dryˈ-pointˈ noun

1. A sharp needle by which fine lines are drawn in copperplate engraving
2. A plate or impression produced with it

dry riser noun

A vertical pipe with an outside access through which water can be pumped from the street to the individual floors of a building in the event of a fire

dryˈ-roastˈ transitive verb

To roast without oil or fat

dryˈ-roasted adjective

dry rot noun

1. A decay of timber caused by Merulius lacrymans and other fungi which reduce it ultimately to a dry brittle mass
2. Any of various fungal diseases of plants, bulbs, fruits, etc
3. A concealed decay or degeneration (figurative)

dry run noun

1. A practice exercise (military)
2. A rehearsal, test

dryˈ-saltˈ transitive verb

To cure (meat) by salting and drying

dryˈsalter noun

A dealer in gums, dyes, etc, or (obsolete) in salted or dry meats, pickles, etc

dryˈsaltery noun

dry service see dry Mass above.

dryˈ-shod adjective and adverb

Without wetting the shoes or feet

dry ski noun

An adaptation of a ski with which one can practise skiing on a dry surface

dry skiing noun

dry steam noun

Steam unmixed with liquid drops

dryˈ-stone adjective

Built of stone without mortar, as some walls

dryˈ-stove noun

A kind of hot-house with dry heat

dry'suit noun

A close-fitting air- and watertight synthetic suit for wearing in esp cold water, that retains warmth by a layer of air, and allows clothing to be worn underneath it

dryˈ-transfer lettering noun

Lettering on the back of a plastic sheet that can be rubbed down onto paper, etc

dryˈwall noun (US)

Plasterboard

dryˈ-wallˈer noun

A person who builds walls without mortar

dryˈ-washˈ noun

The bed of an intermittent stream

cut and dried or cut and dry see under cut

dry out (informal)

To take or give a course of treatment to cure oneself or another person of alcoholism

dry up

1. To dry thoroughly or completely
2. To cease to produce liquid (water, milk, etc)
3. (of an actor, etc) to forget one's lines or part (informal)
4. To stop talking (slang)

go dry

To adopt liquor prohibition

high and dry see under high¹

the dry (sometimes with cap; Aust informal)

The dry season in central and N Australia