cut off

See also: cutoff and cut-off

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

cut off (third-person singular simple present cuts off, present participle cutting off, simple past and past participle cut off)

1. (transitive) To remove via cutting.

   Synonyms: prune, trim

   Hyponym: amputate

2. (transitive) To isolate or remove from contact.
   • 1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 37:

     The entranced spectator was cut off from reality as long as the adventure lasted; it was as if he lived a dream yet believed he was awake.

3. (transitive) To stop the provision or supply of something, e.g. power, water.
   • 1962 April, R. K. Evans, “The Acceptance Testing of Diesel Locomotives”, in Modern Railways, page 268:

     The first English Electric units were not fitted with an anti-slip brake, but a hurried consultation of the wiring diagram showed that it should be possible to hold in the low-voltage anti-slip relay for long enough to let speed build up without cutting off the motor current.

4. (transitive) To stop providing funds or something else to (someone).

   His parents cut him off to encourage him to find a job.

   You're drunk, Jerry, I'm cutting you off.

5. (transitive) To end abruptly.

   My phone call was cut off before I could get the information.

6. (transitive) To interrupt (someone speaking).

   That dingbat cut me off as I was about to conclude my thesis.

7. (transitive, Canada, US) swerve in front of (another car) while driving

   Synonym: (British, Irish) cut up

8. (transitive) to move so as to block someone else's movement in a direction.

   I ran to the house, but Sally is quicker and cut me off.

9. (transitive, US, regional, Southern US) To turn off or switch off (an electrical device).

   Cut off the lamp so I can get some sleep.

Derived terms

• cutoff
• cut-off
• cut off a corner
• cut off more than one can chew
• cut off one's nose to spite one's face
• like a chicken with its head cut off
• run around like a chicken with its head cut off

 

Translations

to remove via cutting

• Arabic: قَطَعَ (ar) (qaṭaʕa)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 切下 (qièxià), 割下 (gēxià)

• Egyptian: (dn)
• Esperanto: fortranĉi (eo)
• Finnish: katkaista (fi)
• French: tailler (fr), couper (fr), trancher (fr)
• Galician: cortar (gl)
• German: abschneiden (de)
• Ido: tranchar (io)
• Indonesian: putus (id), potong (id)
• Japanese: 断つ (ja) (たつ, tatsu)
• Latin: praecīdō, amputō, dēsecō
• Plautdietsch: aufhaken
• Polish: odcinać (pl), odciąć (pl)
• Portuguese: recortar (pt)
• Quechua: t'ipiy, qhulluy
• Russian: отреза́ть (ru) impf (otrezátʹ), отре́зать (ru) pf (otrézatʹ)
• Spanish: cortar (es), recortar (es)
• Swedish: skära av (sv), avskära (sv), kapa (sv)
• Tocharian B: kärst-, lātk-

to isolate or remove from contact

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 隔斷／隔断 (zh) (géduàn)

• Finnish: eristää (fi)
• French: couper (fr)
• German: abschneiden (de)
• Polish: odcinać (pl), odciąć (pl)
• Portuguese: cortar (pt)
• Russian: отреза́ть (ru) impf (otrezátʹ), отре́зать (ru) pf (otrézatʹ), изоли́ровать (ru) impf or pf (izolírovatʹ)
• Spanish: separar (es)
• Swedish: bryta (sv), skära av (sv), avbryta (sv), avskära (sv), bortkoppla, urkoppla

to stop providing funds to (someone)

• Finnish: lopettaa tuki

to end abruptly

• Finnish: katkaista (fi)
• French: couper (fr)
• German: abbrechen (de), unterbrechen (de), abgeschnitten werden
• Polish: rozłączać (pl), rozłączyć (pl)
• Portuguese: cortar (pt)
• Spanish: cortar (es)
• Swedish: avbryta (sv)

to interrupt someone talking

• Finnish: keskeyttää (fi)
• French: couper la parole (fr)
• German: unterbrechen (de), jmdm. ins Wort fallen (by another speaker), jmdm. das Wort abschneiden
• Polish: przerwać (pl), przerywać (pl)
• Portuguese: cortar (pt)
• Russian: перебива́ть (ru) impf (perebivátʹ), переби́ть (ru) pf (perebítʹ); прерыва́ть (ru) impf (preryvátʹ), прерва́ть (ru) pf (prervátʹ)
• Spanish: interrumpir (es)
• Swedish: avbryta (sv)
• Ukrainian: перебити (perebyty)

to swerve in front of another car while driving

• Finnish: kiilata (fi)
• French: faire une queue de poisson (fr), couper la route
• German: schneiden (de)
• Hungarian: bevág (hu)
• Japanese: 割り込む (ja) (warikomu)
• Portuguese: cortar (pt)
• Russian: подреза́ть (ru) impf (podrezátʹ), подре́зать (ru) pf (podrézatʹ)
• Swedish: preja (sv)

to turn off an electrical device

• Finnish: sammuttaa (fi), sulkea (fi)
• German: ausschalten (de), löschen (de) (dated), ausmachen (de), ausknipsen
• Russian: отключить (ru) pf (otključitʹ)
• Swedish: bryta (sv), koppla bort, koppla ifrån, koppla ur, bortkoppla, frånkoppla, urkoppla, stänga av (sv), avstänga (sv)

Noun

cut off (plural cut offs)

1. Alternative form of cutoff

References

• “cut off”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• offcut