cutting edge
37
3.9
- noun
- /ˈkʌtɪŋ ɛdʒ/
:
vanguardia
- Instead of reading outdated material, students learn at the cutting edge of world developments.
- cutting-edge technology
- cutting-edge research
- remain at the cutting edge
There is this book that is on the cutting edge of scholarship of this.
- There is this book that is on the cutting edge of scholarship of this.
- It's meant to be obviously at the very, you know, cutting edge of free speech.
- They think that that's the real cutting edge of health.
- He's the host of Tin Foil Hat Podcast, and he is on the cutting edge of every conspiracy theory.
- But you know, his neural link is way back off the off the cutting edge.
- So that's what that's that's like you're on the cutting edge of like what is working and what people really like to do.
Examples
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Research programs attract physicians who are at the cutting edge of their specialties.
Academic text (1999) -
The company prides itself on being at the cutting edge of innovative design.
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And yet here you are on on the cutting edge of of this process.
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It's meant to be obviously at the very, you know, cutting edge of free speech.
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We are taking our cutting edge technology...
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One must constantly develop and learn new tools to stay on the cutting edge of the field.
Academic text (1990) -
Now Ed was at the cutting edge of current technology involving computer engineering.
Fiction book (2002) -
You will find people applying cutting edge ecological theory to the issue.
-
The model of the "transformational leader" is a topic on the cutting edge of leadership theory.
Academic text (1996) -
In college and university towns across America, traditional and cutting-edge forms of cultural life flourish side by side.
Academic text (2001)
Synonyms
73
4.8
The most important position in an area of work or activity
49
5.6
Very new and modern because it uses the latest ideas and technology
23
4.6
The newest and most advanced technology or method at a time
18
7.2
People at the front leading a movement or new idea
3
8.6
Very new and advanced technology that is not fully tested and may be risky
How Advanced
3
8.6
37
3.9
73
4.9
379
4.0
∞
1.4
75
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'cutting' (sharp, incisive) with 'edge' (border or advantage) to create a conventional metaphor for being at the forefront or most advanced. A learner who knows the component meanings may guess a sense of sharpness or advantage, but mapping that reliably to 'most advanced/innovative' requires recognizing a conventionalized metaphor, so it is not fully transparently compositional.
Etymology
Cutting edge comes from the image of a blade's sharp front pushing into new ground, and people used that picture for anything that leads the way. So saying something is on the cutting edge means it is 'very new and advanced'.