Cut

CUT, verb transitive preterit tense and preposition cut [Latin , to thrust, to drive, to strike.]

1. To separate the parts of any body by an edged instrument, either by striking, as with an ax, or by sawing or rubbing; to make a gash, incision or notch, which separates the external part of a body, as to cut the flesh. It signifies also, to cut into pieces; to sever or divide; as, to cut timber in the forest. But when an entire separation of the body is intended, it is usually followed by off, down, asunder, in two, in pieces, or other word denoting such severance.

Ye shall not cut yourselves, that is, ye shall not gash your flesh. Deuteronomy 14:1.

2. To hew.

Thy servants can skill to cut timber. 2 Chronicles 2:8.

3. To carve, as meat; to carve or engrave in sculpture.

4. To divide; to cleave, by passing through; as, a ship cuts the briny deep.

5. To penetrate; to pierce; to affect deeply; as, a sarcasm cuts to the quick.

6. To divide, as a pack of cards; as, to cut and shuffle.

7. To intersect; to cross. One line cuts another at right angles. The ecliptic cuts the equator.

8. To castrate.

To cut across, to pass by a shorter course, so as to cut off an angle or distance.

To cut asunder, to cut into pieces; to divide; to sever.

He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Psalms 129:4.

To cut down, to fell; to cause to fall by severing.

Ye shall cut down their groves. Exodus 34:13.

Hence, to depress; to abash; to humble; to shame; to silence; as, his eloquence cuts down the finest orator.

[This phrase is not elegant, but is in popular use.]

To cut off,

1. To separate one part from another; as, to cut off a finger, or an arm; to cut off the right hand figure; to cut off a letter or syllable.

2. To destroy; to extirpate; to put to death untimely.

Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord. 1 Kings 18:4.

Evil doers shall be cut off. Psalms 37:2.

3. To separate; to remove to a distance, or to prevent all intercourse. A man in another country or in prison is cut off from his country or his friends.

4. To interrupt; as, to cut off communication.

5. To separate; to remove; to take away; as, to cut off ten years of life.

6. To intercept; to hinder from return, or union. The troops were cut off from the ships.

7. To end; to finish; as, to cut off all controversy.

8. To prevent or preclude; as, to cut off all occasion of blame.

9. To preclude or shut out. The sinner cuts himself off from the benefits of Christianity.

10. To stop, interrupt or silence.

The judge cut off the counsel very short.

To cut on,

1. To hasten; to run or ride with the utmost speed; a vulgar phrase.

2.To urge or drive in striking; to quicken blows; to hasten.

To cut out,

1. To remove a part by cutting or carving; as, to cut out a piece from a board; to cut out the tongue. Hence,

2. To shape or form by cutting; as, to cut out a garment; to cut out an image; to cut out a wood into walks. Hence,

3. To scheme; to contrive; to prepare; as, to cut out word for another day. So we say, to strike out.

4. To shape; to adapt. He is no cut out for an author. [Not elegant.]

5. To debar. [Not common.]

6. To take the preference or precedence of; as, to cut out a prior judgment creditor.

7. To step in and take the place of, as in courting and dancing. [A vulgar phrase.]

8. To interfere as a horse, when the shoe of one foot beats off the skin of the pastern joint of another.

To cut short,

1. To hinder from proceeding by sudden interruption.

Achilles cut him short.

2. To shorten; to abridge; as, to cut short of provisions or pay; to cut the matter short.

To cut up,

1. To cut in pieces; as, to cut up beef.

2. To eradicate; to cut off; as, to cut up shrubs.

CUT, verb intransitive

1. To pass into or through and sever; to enter and divide the parts; as, an instrument cuts well.

2. To be severed by a cutting instrument; as, this fruit cuts easy or smooth.

3. To divide by passing.

The teeth are ready to cut

4. To perform a surgical operation by cutting, especially in lithotomy.

He saved lives by cutting for the stone.

5. To interfere, as a horse.

To cut in, to divide, or turn a card, for determining who are to play.

CUT, participle passive Gashed; divided; hewn; carved; intersected; pierced; deeply affected; castrated.

CUT and dry, prepared for use; a metaphor from hewn timber.

CUT, noun

1. The action of an edged instrument; a stroke or blow, as with an ax or sword.

2. A cleft; a gash; a notch; a wound; the opening made by an edged instrument, distinguished by its length from that made by perforation with a pointed instrument.

3. A stroke or blow with a whip.

4. A channel made by cutting or digging; a ditch; a groove; a furrow; a canal.

5. A part cut off from the rest; as a good cut of beef; a cut of timber. Also, any small piece or shred.

6. A lot made by cutting a stick; as, to draw cuts.

7. A near passage, by which an angle is cut off; a shorter cut

8. A picture cut or cared on wood or metal, and impressed from it.

9. The stamp on which a picture is carved, and by which it is impressed.

10. The act of dividing a pack of cards. Also, the right to divide; as, whose cut is it?

11. Manner in which a thing is cut; form; shape; fashion; as the cut of a garment; the cut of his beard.

12. A fool; a cully; a gelding. [Not in use.]

CUT and long tail, men of all kinds; a proverbial expression borrowed from dogs.