Cŭt1, v. t.
[imp. & p. p. CUT; p. pr. & vb. n. CUT-TING.] [O. Eng. kit, Norm. Fr. cotir, cut. Cf. W. cwtan, Ir. cutaich, to curtail, W. cwta, Ir. cutach, bob-tailed, W. cwt, Ir. cut, a short tail, W. cateia, to cut, cat, a piece, O. Sw. kotta, to sever.]
Sense 1. To separate the parts of with a sharp instrument; to make an incision in; to gash; to wound; to notch with an edged tool; to divide; to sever.
You must cut this flesh from off his breast: The law allows it, and the court awards it. Shak.
Before the whistling winds the vessels fly, With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way. Pope.
Sense 2. To sever and cause to fall for the purpose of gathering; to hew, as wood; to mow and reap, as grain or corn.
Thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon. 2 Chron. ii. 9.
Sense 3. To sever and remove by cutting; to cut off; to dock; as, to cut the hair; to cut the nails.
Sense 4. To form or shape by cutting; to make by incision, hewing, felling, or the like; to carve; to hew out.
Why should a man whose blood is warm within him Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? Shak.
Loopholes cut through thickest shade. Milton.
Sense 5. To wound or hurt deeply the sensibilities of; to pierce; to lacerate; as, sarcasm cuts to the quick.
The man was cut to the heart with these consolations. Addison.
Sense 6. To intersect; to cross; as one line cuts another at right angles.
Sense 7. To castrate or geld; as, to cut a horse.
Cut and dried, prepared beforehand; not spontaneous.
Cut glass, glass having the surface shaped or ornamented by grinding and polishing in facets or figures. — Cut nail, a nail manufactured by being cut from a rolled plate of iron, by machinery, in distinction from a wrought nail, or one made by hand. — To cut a dash, or a figure, to make a display. — To cut capers, to play pranks; to frolic.
— To cut down. (a.) To cause to fall by severing; to fell; hence, to put down; to abash; to humble; to shame.
Timber . . . cut down in the mountains of Cilicia. Knolles.
So great is his natural eloquence, that he cuts down the finest orator . . . as soon as ever he gets himself to be heard. Addison.
(b.) To lessen; to diminish; as, to cut down expenses.
Enabled more effectual to cut down their corruptions. Fuller.
— To cut lots, to draw lots by cuts. — To cut off, to remove from the extremity; to sever; to separate; hence, to put an end to; to destroy; to interrupt.
I would to God The king had cut off my head with my brother's. Shak.
Irenæus was likewise cut off by martyrdom. Addison.
— To cut out. (a.) To remove from the midst; to shape or form by cutting; hence, to fashion; to contrive; to adapt.
A large forest cut out into walks. Addison.
By the pattern of my own thoughts I cut out the purity of his. Shak.
(b.) To remove and take the place of; to supersede; to frustrate; to debar; to outdo. “I am cut out from any thing but common acknowledgments.” Pope. (c.) To seize and carry off, as a vessel, from a harbor, or from under the guns of an enemy.
— To cut short, to arrest or check abruptly; to bring to a sudden termination; to abridge; to diminish.
Achilles cut him short, and thus replied. Dryden.
The soldiers were cut short of their pay. Johnson.
— To cut under, to undersell; as, to cut under a competitor in trade. — To cut up, to cut to pieces; as, to cut up an animal or bushes; hence, to damage or destroy; to injure; to wound; as, to cut up a book or its author by a severe criticism.
This doctrine cuts up all government by the roots. Locke.
— To cut the acquaintance of, or to cut a person, to drop intercourse with; to avoid recognizing. — To cut the cards, to divide a pack of cards into two portions for the purpose of determining the dealing or trump. — To cut the teeth, to put forth teeth; to have the teeth pierce through the gum, and appear.