to cut down
12
3.6
- phrasal verb
- /kʌt daʊn/
- NSFW
:
abatir
- Now the Cavalry cut down our children.
- cut down by bullets
- cut down by gunfire
- cut down while fleeing
After more than three centuries of existence, they were now the ones cut down in front of the throne.
- After more than three centuries of existence, they were now the ones cut down in front of the throne.
- Example, let's say there's five of us and sergeant's like charge that machine gun nest and I charge it and I got cut down.
- And everywhere these massive outpourings of grief and shock that this great conquer who looked like an English Alexander has, has been, you know, cut down in his prime.
Examples
-
The ambush was brutal, as several officers were cut down in an instant.
-
A quarter of a million men were cut down at Gallipoli.
-
Some infantry were cut down earlier today
-
Stand with the righteous, or be cut down with the others.
-
The remaining auxiliaries jumped out and tried to get to the high ground off of the road, but most were cut down by rifle fire.
-
Many were cut down as they fled, while others found refuge in a nearby stronghold only to surrender due to lack of water.
Academic text (2011) -
Businessman Edgar Sonrisa was cut down in a hail of gunfire at his Pacific Heights mansion late last night.
Fiction book (2000) -
One hundred Saudi paratroopers, who were dropped into the mosque unarmed, were cut down by the insurgents' automatic fire before they even reached the ground.
Academic text (2007) -
When the soldiers attacked, many were cut down before they could reach safety.
-
During the conflict, the enemy forces were cut down by surprise airstrikes.
Synonyms
93
3.0
Use force to make someone or something fall to the ground
64
3.8
To break or remove something by force, often by hitting it
51
5.5
Cause someone or something to fall and be defeated
39
1.8
To move something from a high place to a lower place
16
3.3
To cause something to fall, often by cutting it down
16
2.0
Make something move down by using force
12
2.1
To cut through the trunk of a tree so it falls
8
4.8
To knock someone to the ground with force
6
6.8
Cause someone to fall, become sick, or die suddenly
5
3.2
To bring something or someone down from a higher place
1
7.1
To force something down by hitting it hard
Antonyms
How Forceful
207
4.4
- NSFW
12
3.6
93
3.0
16
2.0
219
2.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sports sense 'to intercept/stop/tackle' is only partly derivable from the parts: 'down' suggests bringing someone to the ground or defeating them and 'cut' can imply stopping or removing, so there is a motivated, figurative relation. However, the specific action of tackling/intercepting in sports is a specialized, metaphorical extension of those meanings and not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Cut down can mean to make someone or something fall by force, like a strong blow or shot that brings a person to the ground. Think of a strike that cuts a person down to the floor, so it means 'to cause to fall'.