to cut
- verb
- /kʌt/
- With it, he set about cutting a foothold into the wall, shearing away the roots.
- cut a tooth
Examples
-
As the tree grew taller, its branches started to cut through the thick canopy of leaves above.
-
When the child's first tooth came in, it began to cut through the gums.
-
Next, take your green felt and cut out tiny leaves.
-
You cut your teeth on it.
-
Many writers cut their teeth on short fiction but soon move on to publishing novels.
Academic text (2010) -
Lucas looked left, saw the man cutting toward the junkyard, and ran after him.
Fiction book (1994) -
Depending on where you cut this tree, you can have two classes here or this one here that looks like there's a large class which goes from here down to here.
-
In the spring, new flowers begin to cut their way through the soil as they bloom.
Synonyms
To make a hole in paper or leather with a small tool
To make a hole in something with a sharp object like a needle
To go straight across a place, for example through land or a crowd
To make a deep cut or hole in something with a sharp object
Cut or move quickly and smoothly through air and water
To cut something in two using a sharp tool like an axe
To make a deep cut or groove in a surface by scraping
To break through soil or skin when new growth appears
Move a sharp object into something to cut it
Idioms
Deliberately do something that hurts you more than the person you want to punish
- Informal
To become independent from your parents and live on your own
- Informal
To become independent from parents and make your own decisions
- Australian
To criticize someone who stands out to make them seem less successful
- Informal
To check something carefully before you do it to avoid mistakes
Phrasal Verbs
- Informal
To do something quickly or cheaply by skipping important steps so the result is lower quality
- Informal
To have fun and act without control, or to remove someone from their job
- Informal
To leave very little time before something happens and risk being late
- Informal
To make someone less proud by showing they are not as good as they think
- Jargon
To make a message clear so people notice it despite distractions
Make speech or writing clearer by removing complicated management language
Compounds
- Specialized
A sudden change between two film shots that makes action or time seem to skip
- Specialized
A short announcement that interrupts a program to give local news or alerts
An event when shops sell goods at much lower prices for a short time to clear old stock
- Specialized
A sudden cut between shots in a film that shows time passing or makes the action jump
Surface Forms
Etymology
Cut a tooth uses the image of a tooth making an opening through the gum, like a small slice, which is why we say babies 'cut' teeth as they grow.