1. The act of penetrating or opening with a sharp edge
   "his cutting in the lining revealed the hidden jewels";
   - cut
    
2. The act of cutting something into parts
   "his cutting of the cake made a terrible mess";
   - cut
    
3. Removing parts from hard material to create a desired pattern or shape
   "The woodworker's cutting of intricate designs transformed the plain wooden box";
   - carving
    
4. A piece cut off from the main part of something
   "The gardener planted rose cuttings to propagate new bushes"; "The chef used herb cuttings to garnish the dish"
    
5. A part (sometimes a root or leaf or bud) removed from a plant to propagate a new plant through rooting or grafting
   "She took cuttings from her favourite hydrangea to grow new plants";
   - slip
    
6. An excerpt cut from a newspaper or magazine
   "he searched through piles of letters and cuttings";
   - clipping, newspaper clipping, press clipping, press cutting
    
7. The activity of selecting the scenes to be shown and putting them together to create a film
   "The director spent weeks in cutting to perfect the pacing of the movie";
   - film editing
    
8. The division of a deck of cards before dealing
   "the cutting of the cards soon became a ritual";
   - cut
    
9. The act of shortening something by chopping off the ends
   "The cutting of the ribbon officially opened the new building";
   - cut
    
10. The act of diluting something
    "the cutting of whiskey with water"
     
11. [Brit] A passage excavated through high ground for a railway, road, canal, etc.
    "The new railway cutting significantly reduced travel time between the two cities"

1. Painful as if caused by a sharp instrument
   "a cutting wind";
   - keen, knifelike, piercing, stabbing, lancinate, lancinating
    
2. (of speech) harsh or hurtful in tone or character
   "cutting remarks";
   - edged, stinging
    
3. Unpleasantly cold and damp
   "cutting winds of the North Atlantic";
   - bleak, raw

1. Separate with or as if with an instrument
   "Cut the rope"
    
2. Make a reduction in, cut down on
   "The employer wants to cut back health benefits"; "cut down your daily fat intake";
   - reduce, cut down, cut back, trim, trim down, trim back, bring down
    
3. Make an incision or separation
   "cut along the dotted line"
    
4. Function as a cutting instrument
   "This knife cuts well"
    
5. Form or shape by cutting or incising
   "cut paper dolls"
    
6. Fell by sawing; hew
   "The Vietnamese cut a lot of timber while they occupied Cambodia"
    
7. Shorten as if by severing the edges or ends of
   "cut my hair"
    
8. Penetrate injuriously
   "The glass from the shattered windscreen cut into her forehead"
    
9. Remove unnecessary or unwanted parts to improve efficiency or effectiveness
   "We had to lose weight, so we cut the sugar from our diet";
   - prune, rationalize, rationalise [Brit]
    
10. Discharge from a group
    "The coach cut two players from the team"
     
11. Intentionally fail to attend
    "cut class";
    - skip
     
12. Pass through or across
    "The boat cut the water"
     
13. Pass directly and often in haste
    "We cut through the neighbour's yard to get home sooner"
     
14. Turn sharply; change direction abruptly
    "The car cut to the left at the intersection";
    - swerve, sheer, curve, trend, veer, slue, slew
     
15. Style or make in a certain fashion
    "cut a dress";
    - tailor
     
16. (sport) hit (a ball) with a spin so that it turns in the opposite direction
    "cut a Ping-Pong ball"
     
17. Make an abrupt change of image or sound
    "cut from one scene to another"
     
18. Stop filming
    "cut a movie scene"
     
19. Make a recording of
    "cut the songs"; "She cut all of her major titles again"
     
20. Record a performance on (a medium)
    "cut a record"
     
21. Create by duplicating data
    "cut a disk";
    - burn
     
22. Perform or carry out
    "cut a caper"
     
23. Allow incision or separation
    "This bread cuts easily"
     
24. Divide a deck of cards at random into two parts to make selection difficult
    "Wayne cut"; "She cut the deck for a long time"
     
25. Cause to stop operating by disengaging a switch
    "cut the engine";
    - switch off, turn off, turn out
     
26. Reap or harvest
    "cut grain"
     
27. Refuse to acknowledge
    "She cut him dead at the meeting";
    - ignore, disregard, snub
     
28. Dissolve by breaking down the fat of
    "soap cuts grease"
     
29. Have a reducing effect
    "This cuts into my earnings"
     
30. Cease, stop
    "We had to cut short the conversation"; "cut the noise";
    - cut off
     
31. Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
    "The manuscript must be cut";
    - abridge, foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, contract, reduce
     
32. Lessen the strength or flavour of a solution or mixture
    "cut bourbon";
    - dilute, thin, thin out
     
33. Have grow through the gums
    "The baby cut a tooth"
     
34. Grow through the gums
    "The new tooth is cutting"
     
35. Remove the testicles of (a male animal)
    "The farmer cut the young bulls";
    - geld
     
36. [informal] Be able to manage or manage successfully
    "she could not cut the long days in the office";
    - hack [informal]
     
37. Give the appearance or impression of
    "cut a nice figure"
     
38. (boxing) move (one's fist)
    "his opponent cut upward toward his chin"
     
39. Fill in and give as payment
    "cut a ticket";
    - write out, issue, make out
     
40. Separate and assemble the components of
    "cut recording tape";
    - edit, edit out
     
41. Form by probing, penetrating, or digging
    "The sweat cut little rivulets into her face"; "cut a hole"; "cut trenches"

Derived forms: cuttings

See also: cold, curb, cut away, cut off, cut out, cut to, cut up, dig, disrupt, scratch out, sharp, unkind

Type of: acquire, alter, appear, be, break up, castrate, change, create, creating by removal, cut down, cut off, decrease, demasculinise [Brit], demasculinize, design, develop, dilution, discharge, disrupt, dissolve, disunite, divide, division, do, do away with, do by [Brit], drop, eliminate, emasculate [archaic], evirate [rare], excerpt, excerption, execute, extinguish, extract, fell, flip, free, function, get, get by, get rid of, glean [archaic], go, grow, handle, harvest, hit, interrupt, lessen, look, make, make do, manage, minify, miss, mix, modify, move, move through, opening, operate, part, pass, pass across, pass over, pass through, penetrate, perform, piece, pierce, produce, reap, record, resolve, ruffle, run, seem, selection, separate, shift, shorten, shortening, shuffle, stalk, stem, stop, strike down, switch, tape, throw, transit, treat, turn, weaken, work, write

Antonym: switch on

Part of: card game, cards

Encyclopedia: Cutting, John