cut down
adj1
Having been cut down; reduced in strength or power.
- Related terms
- cut up, shoot down
cut down
verbalso spelled cut-down8 senses
1
Literally To cut downward.
2
Literally To adulterate a drug.
- We need to cut the cocaine down.
3
To bring down by cutting.
- They want to cut down several trees to make room for the parking lot.
4
Idiomatic To insult, to belittle.
5
Idiomatic To reduce the amount of something.
- He wants to cut down on extra steps.
- Please don't put the candy jar right next to my desk. I'm trying to cut down on sugar.
1 more example
- By wholesale omission of connections and by the use of a microscopic scale of photographic reproduction which makes some of the most important tables difficult to read, the size has been cut down from last winter's 580 to 520 pages only.1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: London Midland Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 593:
7
Slang To shoot a gun; to shoot (someone or many people), usually to kill them.
8
Slang To challenge (someone); to prove superiority to (someone).
African-American Vernacular
- Derived terms
- cut-down, cut down the tall poppy, cut down to size