to cut through
- phrasal verb
- /kʌt θru/
- I'll cut through here, and I'll meet you on the far side.
- cut through a layer
- roads cut through land
But there's something about the writing that cut through all the clutter.
- But there's something about the writing that cut through all the clutter.
- Satire is like the surgeon's scalpel cutting through warm butter, right?
- Not even with a samurai sword do you cut through armor, right.
- We don't open up our sails and see how we can cut through the open sea.
- You need someone to bear witness to your pain to help you cut through this isolation.
- And it was a nice reminder about how melody cuts through all eras, really.
- So generally the purpose of these wrathful tantric deities is to cut through the the conceptual mind.
- On the other side of an impassable patch of woods cut through by a Creek.
- It's survival, and it's so important to know this, to cut through the shame that so many survivors feel.
- It is a soil knife, so it's used to cut through roots.
Examples
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We should be able to cut through the medlab to Operations.
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Well... how about if we cut through the woods here?
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I say we just cut through the side.
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All right, cut through the park and take me over to...
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I cut through the woods like you said.
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You cut through the garage, pick up the cash and get out of this town.
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We gonna cut through the jungle to a river.
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The two men came out the back door and cut through the hedge.
Fiction book (1991) -
Within seconds, the fire cut through the rope that suspended the lanterns above the pavilion.
Fiction book (1995) -
We can cut through the park to save time on our walk.
Synonyms
To go across something from one side to the other
To move quickly in a new direction, often to take a shortcut
Move through something with effort, for example thick curtains or a jungle
To move through something from one side to the other
To move suddenly through a barrier, as light or a person
To move across land or water from one side to the other
To move across an enemy line to reach the other side
Cut or move quickly and smoothly through air and water
To go through a place like a park to make a shorter route
To cut across a place in a straight line and divide it
Move into and through something by making a hole or gap
Move a sharp object into something to cut it
To move quickly and smoothly through water or snow
To cut across a piece of wood at an angle to fit it
Antonyms
How Direct
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to go through or across something, especially directly or by breaking through it' is directly derivable from combining 'cut' (to separate or slice) with 'through' (moving from one side to the other). This literal motion/particle composition is common and predictable in English and cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Cut through comes from the clear image of something that cuts straight through an obstacle, like a knife through cloth or a river carving a valley. So it now means 'to go through something directly' or 'to make a route shorter'.