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Glite Dictionary
💰 To share profits 🚗 To move suddenly ✋ To interrupt 💃 To take a partner 🥧 To mix fat
to cut in

to cut in

4 6.9
Step between two people who are dancing to take one partner
  • phrasal verb
  • /kʌt ɪn/
translation icon : meterse a bailar
  • Mind if I cut in for a second?

Examples

Antonyms

to leave alone
∞ 2.3

To avoid touching and disturbing a person, animal or object

to stand back
159 1.6

Move away and keep a safe distance from something or someone for safety

How Bold

to muscle into
  • Informal
1 7.4
to cut in
4 6.9
to step in
240 3.2

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

cut + in

The vehicle sense is partially derivable: 'in' signals movement into space and 'cut' can be metaphorically extended to mean a sharp intrusion, so a learner might guess an insertion into another lane. However, the specific traffic-related consequence (leaving too little space) and the conventionalized abruptness of the maneuver are not fully predictable from the literal words, so prior exposure is typically needed.

Etymology

Cut in comes from an old dance scene where a person would step between a dancing couple and 'cut in' to take the partner, so it means 'to join or interrupt a dance'.