# cut out

Pronunciation: US/UK say "kut-OWT" /kʌt ˈaʊt/; AUS

## Phrasal verb

1. To separate a piece from something by cutting, with a blade or as if with one.
   - Simple: To cut a piece away from something, with scissors, a knife, or something like them.
   - _She cut out every review of the play and pasted them into a scrapbook._
   - _The surgeon cut out the tumor along with a thin margin of healthy tissue._
2. To stop doing or using something, or to refrain from it altogether. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To stop doing or using something, or to keep away from it.
   - _He cut out coffee for a month to see if he would sleep better._
   - _If you two don't cut it out, I'm turning this car around._
3. To remove something or someone, or to leave it out entirely.
   - Simple: To take something away or leave it out.
   - _Selling directly online lets small makers cut out the middleman._
   - _After the betrayal, she cut him out of her life completely._
4. To stop working or switch off; of someone on a phone call or similar link, to become inaudible or be disconnected.
   - Simple: To stop working or turn off, or to stop being heard on a phone call.
   - _The motor cut out halfway up the hill, and we rolled back to the curb._
   - _Her voice kept cutting out, so we switched from video to a regular call._
8. To oust someone from a position, or to take their place.
   - Simple: To push someone out and take their place.
   - _Within a month, the charming stranger had cut out all of Ada's other admirers._
   - _A rival firm cut them out as the city's main supplier of road salt._
9. To leave a place or gathering suddenly.
   - Simple: To leave a place quickly and without warning.
   - _Halfway through the speeches, Dana cut out without saying goodbye._
   - _A few guests cut out of the reception before the cake was served._
10. To arrange or prepare something; usually used in the passive.
   - Simple: To get something ready or arranged.
   - _The new mayor has her work cut out for her after years of neglect at city hall._
   - _Firefighters had their work cut out for them as the wind pushed the blaze toward town._
15. To stop or seize something on its way, such as a pass, before it reaches its target.
   - Simple: To stop or catch something before it reaches the person or place it was going to.
   - _The center back read the play early and cut out the cross before it reached the striker._
   - _Their midfielders kept cutting out our through balls, so we never got near the goal._
17. To separate an animal from the rest of a herd. *(Australia, New Zealand, US)*
   - Simple: To move one animal away from the rest of the herd.
   - _Two stockmen cut out the yearlings and drove them to the far paddock._
   - _A well-trained horse can cut out a single steer with little help from its rider._
20. To take a ship out of a harbor or similar anchorage by moving in between the ship and the shore.
   - Simple: To take a ship out of a harbor by getting between it and the shore.
   - _Under cover of darkness, the frigate's boats slipped into the bay to cut out a brig lying at anchor._
   - _The admiral ordered his captains to cut out any merchant ship sheltering under the fort's guns._
21. To serve time in prison instead of paying fines. *(slang, Australia)*
   - Simple: To spend time in jail instead of paying fines.
   - _Rather than pay the eight hundred dollars he owed the court, he cut out in the lockup over Christmas._
   - _Most of the blokes in that wing weren't hardened crims, just fine defaulters cutting out._

## Adjective

5. Having what it takes for a particular activity or purpose.
   - Simple: Having the right qualities for a job or activity.
   - _After one season of night shifts, he decided he wasn't cut out for nursing._
   - _Few people are cut out to be air traffic controllers._

## Noun · cut-out

Pronunciation: say "KUT-owt" /ˈkʌt.aʊt/

6. A piece cut away from a larger whole, such as a shape cut from paper.
   - Simple: A shape or piece cut from something, like paper.
   - _Each student traced a paper cut-out of a leaf onto green construction paper._
   - _He sanded the plywood cut-outs before painting them as toy soldiers._
7. A free-standing, rigid printed figure, usually life-size, often displayed to promote something.
   - Simple: A flat, stiff picture that stands up by itself, often life-size and used in ads.
   - _A life-size cardboard cut-out of the quarterback greeted shoppers at the store entrance._
   - _The campaign shipped cut-outs of the candidate to every field office._
11. A hole or space left where material has been removed by cutting.
   - Simple: A hole or open space left where a piece has been cut away.
   - _The countertop needs a cut-out for the sink before it is installed._
   - _Rows of small cut-outs in the metal screen let air flow through._
12. A trusted middleman who links two parties, especially in espionage.
   - Simple: A trusted person in the middle who links two others, especially in spying.
   - _The agency used a cut-out so that its officers never met the informant face to face._
   - _Investigators believe the payments were routed through a cut-out to hide who was really behind them._
13. A cookie cut into a particular shape with a cookie cutter.
   - Simple: A cookie with a special shape, made with a cookie cutter.
   - _Brush each cut-out with egg wash before sliding the tray into the oven._
   - _She baked three dozen pumpkin-shaped cut-outs for the school party._
14. Any of various devices that stop the flow of a current, especially an electric current, such as a trip switch.
   - Simple: A device that stops a current from flowing, usually an electric current.
   - _The mechanic traced the dead battery to a faulty cut-out in the charging circuit._
   - _A thermal cut-out shuts off the pump if the motor starts to overheat._
16. A ready-made piece of clip art that can be added to a document or design.
   - Simple: A ready-made picture that you can add to a page on a computer.
   - _The design software includes a library of cut-outs, from cartoon animals to holiday borders._
   - _She dragged a cut-out of a smiling sun onto the front page of the newsletter._
18. An electrical switch for redirecting current into a different circuit or for shortening a circuit.
   - Simple: A switch that sends electric current into another circuit, or makes a circuit shorter.
   - _The operator threw the cut-out, sending the current from the main line onto the branch circuit._
   - _At night the clerk used the cut-out to take his instrument out of the circuit, so messages passed straight through._
19. The separating of a group of cattle from a herd, or the place where the separated animals are gathered. *(US)*
   - Simple: The job of moving a group of cattle away from the herd, or the place where they are kept.
   - _After the cut-out, the calves were branded and turned back in with their mothers._
   - _Two riders kept the calves together at the cut-out near the corral while the rest of the crew worked the main herd._

## Origin

Formed from the verb cut out.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cut-out (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).