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Glite Dictionary
📉 To reduce 🌳 To fell ⚔️ To bring down 🏃 To stop player
to cut down

to cut down

7 3.4
To stop another player in a game, often by tackling them
  • phrasal verb
  • /kʌt daʊn/
  • Jargon
translation icon : placar
  • I cut those Wildcats down as if they held no bats.

Examples

  • All right, let's cut him down.

    Sabotage (2014)

  • In a crucial play, the midfielder cut down their best striker at the edge of the penalty area.

  • We cut them down in the passes.

    Zulu (1964)

  • And Harry Douglas, one of our wide receivers went and cut a corner, cut him down as a great block.

  • The defensive player successfully cut down the opponent before he could score a goal.

  • She quickly cut down the attacking player, preventing him from making a successful pass.

Synonyms

to cut off
vsto cut down
620 3.8

To stop something suddenly before it is finished

is about stopping an opponent in play to prevent progress or scoring
to cut out
vsto cut down
  • Jargon
44 4.6

To move suddenly in front of someone to block their way

involves tackling an opponent to stop their progress or a goal

Antonyms

to allow
∞ 1.0

To let something happen or let someone do something

How Effective

to bring down
  • NSFW
7 5.3
to cut down
  • Jargon
7 3.4
tackle
  • US
40 3.5
to block
∞ 3.0
to hinder
75 3.6
to delay
562 1.4

Surface Forms

cut down infinitive
cutting down present participle
cuts down third person singular
cut down past
cut down past participle

Morphology

cut + down

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

In sports, cut down keeps the image of stopping a player by coming in and bringing them down or blocking their way. A defender moves to cut the runner down, so the phrase means 'to stop or tackle an opponent'.