CUT, v.t. pret. and prep. cut. [L., to thrust, to drive, to strike.]

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. – Sidney.
7. A near passage, by which an angle is cut off; as, a shorter cut.
8. A picture cut or carved on wood or metal, and impressed from it. – Brown.
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. – Stillingfleet.
12. A fool; a cully; a gelding. [Not in use.] Cut and long tail, men of all kinds; a proverbial expression borrowed from dogs.

Gashed; divided; hewn; carved; intersected; pierced; deeply affected; castrated. Cut and dry, prepared for use; a metaphor from hewn timber.

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. Arbuthnot.
4. To perform a surgical operation by cutting, especially in lithotomy. He saved lives by cutting for the stone. Pope.
5. To interfere, as a horse. To cut in, to divide, or turn a card, for determining who are to play.

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. Deut. xiv.
2. To hew. Thy servants can skill to cut timber. 2 Chron. ii.
3. To carve, as meat; to carve or engrave in sculpture. Addison.
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. Ps. cxxix. To cut down, to fell; to cause to fall by severing. Ye shall cut down their groves. Ex. xxxiv. Hence, to depress; to abash; to humble; to shame; to silence; as, his eloquence cuts down the finest orator. Addison. [This phrase is not elegant, but is in popular use.] To cut off, to separate one part from another; as, to cut of 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 xviii. Evil doers shall be cut off. Ps. xxxvii. #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. Bacon. To cut on, 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, 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 work for another day. So we say, to strike out. #4. To shape; to adapt. He is not cut out for an author. [Not elegant.] #5. To debar. [Not common.] Pope. #6. To take the preference or precedence of; as, to cut out a prior judgment creditor. – Kent. #7. To step in and take the place of, as courting and dancing. [A vulgar phrase.] #8. To interfere as a horse, when the shoe of one that beats off the skin of the pastern joint of another. To cut short, to hinder from proceeding by sudden interruption. Achilles cut him short. Dryden. #2. To shorten; to abridge; as, to cut short of provisions or pay; to cut the matter short. To cut up, to cut in pieces; as, to cut up beef. #2. To eradicate; to cut off; as, to cut up shrubs.

1. To separate the parts of with, or as with, a sharp instrument; to make an incision in; to gash; to sever; to divide.
   
   

   You must cut this flesh from off his breast.
   Shak.

   Before the whistling winds the vessels fly,
   With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way.
   Pope.

2. An opening made with an edged instrument; a cleft; a gash; a slash; a wound made by cutting; as, a sword cut.
3. To do the work of an edged tool; to serve in dividing or gashing; as, a knife cuts well.
4. Gashed or divided, as by a cutting instrument.
5. To deflect (a bowled ball) to the off, with a chopping movement of the bat.
6. A slanting stroke causing the ball to spin and bound irregularly; also, the spin so given to the ball.
7. To sever and cause to fall for the purpose of gathering; to hew; to mow or reap.
   
   

   Thy servants can skill to cut timer.
   2. Chron. ii. 8

8. A stroke or blow or cutting motion with an edged instrument; a stroke or blow with a whip.
9. To admit of incision or severance; to yield to a cutting instrument.
   
   

   Panels of white wood that cuts like cheese.
   Holmes.

10. Formed or shaped as by cutting; carved.
11. To drive (an object ball) to either side by hitting it fine on the other side with the cue ball or another object ball.
12. A stroke on the off side between point and the wicket; also, one who plays this stroke.
13. To sever and remove by cutting; to cut off; to dock; as, to cut the hair; to cut the nails.
14. That which wounds the feelings, as a harsh remark or criticism, or a sarcasm; personal discourtesy, as neglecting to recognize an acquaintance when meeting him; a slight.
    
    

    Rip called him by name, but the cur snarled, snapped his teeth, and passed on. This was an unkind cut indeed.
    W. Irving.

15. To perform the operation of dividing, severing, incising, intersecting, etc.; to use a cutting instrument.
    
    

    He saved the lives of thousands by manner of cutting for the stone.
    Pope.

16. Overcome by liquor; tipsy.
    
    
    [Slang]

    Cut and dried, prepered beforehand; not spontaneous. -- Cut glass, glass having a surface ground and polished in facets or figures. - - Cut nail, a nail cut by machinery from a rolled plate of iron, in distinction from a wrought nail. -- Cut stone, stone hewn or chiseled to shape after having been split from the quarry.

17. To strike (a ball) with the racket inclined or struck across the ball so as to put a certain spin on the ball.
18. To castrate or geld; as, to cut a horse.
19. A notch, passage, or channel made by cutting or digging; a furrow; a groove; as, a cut for a railroad.
    
    

    This great cut or ditch Secostris . . . purposed to have made a great deal wider and deeper.
    Knolles.

20. To make a stroke with a whip.
21. To drive (a ball) to one side by hitting with another ball.
22. To form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, etc.; to carve; to hew out.
    
    

    Why should a man. whose blood is warm within,
    Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster?
    Shak.

    Loopholes cut through thickest shade.
    Milton.

23. The surface left by a cut; as, a smooth or clear cut.
24. To interfere, as a horse.
25. To wound or hurt deeply the sensibilities of; to pierce; to lacerate; as, sarcasm cuts to the quick.
    
    

    The man was cut to the heart.
    Addison.

26. A portion severed or cut off; a division; as, a cut of beef; a cut of timber.
    
    

    It should be understood, moreover, . . . that the group are not arbitrary cuts, but natural groups or types.
    Dana.

27. To move or make off quickly.
    
    
    [Colloq.]
28. To intersect; to cross; as, one line cuts another at right angles.
29. To divide a pack of cards into two portion to decide the deal or trump, or to change the order of the cards to be dealt.
    
    

    To cut across, to pass over or through in the most direct way; as, to cut across a field. -- To cut and run, to make off suddenly and quickly; -- from the cutting of a ship's cable, when there is not time to raise the anchor. [Colloq.] -- To cut in or into, to interrupt; to join in anything suddenly. -- To cut up. (a) To play pranks. [Colloq.] (b) To divide into portions well or ill; to have the property left at one's death turn out well or poorly when divided among heirs, legatees, etc. [Slang.] "When I die, may I cut up as well as Morgan Pendennis." Thackeray.

30. An engraved block or plate; the impression from such an engraving; as, a book illustrated with fine cuts.
31. To refuse to recognize; to ignore; as, to cut a person in the street; to cut one's acquaintance.
    
    
    [Colloq.]
32. The act of dividing a pack cards.
    
    
    (b)
33. Manner in which a thing is cut or formed; shape; style; fashion; as, the cut of a garment.
    
    

    With eyes severe and beard of formal cut.
    Shak.

34. To absent one's self from; as, to cut an appointment, a recitation. etc.
    
    
    [Colloq.]

    An English tradesman is always solicitous to cut the shop whenever he can do so with impunity.
    Thomas Hamilton.

    To cut a caper. See under Caper. -- To cut the cards, to divide a pack of cards into portions, in order to determine the deal or the trump, or to change the cards to be dealt. -- To cut a dash or a figure, to make a display. [Colloq.] -- To cut down. (a) To sever and cause to fall; to fell; to prostrate. "Timber . . . cut down in the mountains of Cilicia." Knolles. (b) To put down; to abash; to humble. [Obs] "So great is his natural eloquence, that he cuts doun the finest orator." Addison (c) To lessen; to retrench; to curtail; as, to cut down expenses. (d) (Naut.) To raze; as, to cut down a frigate into a sloop. -- To cut the knot or the Gordian knot, to dispose of a difficulty summarily; to solve it by prompt, arbitrary action, rather than by skill or patience. -- To cut lots, to determine lots by cuttings cards; to draw lots. -- To cut off. (a) To sever; to separate.

    I would to God, . . .
    The king had cut off my brother's.
    Shak.

    (b) To put an untimely death; to put an end to; to destroy. "Irenæus was likewise cut off by martyrdom." Addison. (c) To interrupt; as, to cut off communication; to cut off (the flow of) steam from (the boiler to) a steam engine. (d) To intercept; as,, to cut off an enemy's retreat. (e) To end; to finish; as, to cut off further debate. -- To cut out. (a) To remove by cutting or carving; as, to cut out a piece from a board. (b) To shape or form by cutting; as, to cut out a garment. " A large forest cut out into walks." Addison. (c) To scheme; to contrive; to prepare; as, to cut out work for another day. "Every man had cut out a place for himself." Addison. (d) To step in and take the place of; to supplant; as, to cut out a rival. [Colloq.] (e) To debar. "I am cut out from anything but common acknowledgments." Pope. (f) To seize and carry off (a vessel) from a harbor, or from under the guns of an enemy. - - To cut to pieces. (a) To cut into pieces; as, to cut cloth to pieces. (b) To slaughter; as, to cut an army to pieces. -- To cut a play (Drama), to shorten it by leaving out passages, to adapt it for the stage. -- To cut rates (Railroads, etc.), to reduce the charges for transportation below the rates established between competing lines. -- To cut short, to arrest or check abruptly; to bring to a sudden termination. "Achilles cut him short, and thus replied." Dryden. -- To cut stick, to make off clandestinely or precipitately. [Slang] -- To cut teeth, to put forth teeth; to have the teeth pierce through the gum and appear. -- To have cut one's eyeteeth, to be sharp and knowing. [Colloq.] -- To cut one's wisdom teeth, to come to years of discretion. -- To cut under, to undersell; as, to cut under a competitor in trade. -- To cut up. (a) To cut to pieces; as, to cut up an animal, or bushes. (b) To damage or destroy; to injure; to wound; as, to cut up a book or its author by severe criticism. "This doctrine cuts up all government by the roots." Locke. (c) To afflict; to discourage; to demoralize; as, the death of his friend cut him up terribly. [Colloq.] Thackeray.

35. A common work horse; a gelding.
    
    
    [Obs.]

    He'll buy me a cut, forth for to ride.
    Beau. *** Fl.

36. The failure of a college officer or student to be present at any appointed exercise.
    
    
    [College Cant]
37. A skein of yarn.
    
    
    Wright.

    A cut in rates (Railroad), a reduction in fare, freight charges, etc., below the established rates. -- A short cut, a cross route which shortens the way and cuts off a circuitous passage. -- The cut of one's jib, the general appearance of a person. [Colloq.] -- To draw cuts, to draw lots, as of paper, etc., cut unequal lengths.

    Now draweth cut . . .
    The which that hath the shortest shall begin.
    Chaucer.