Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut, out. To sever from something larger, with or as if with a sharp-edged instrument.
Cut out the letters and paste them on the poster.
2
Informal To refrain from (doing something, using something etc.), to stop or cease (doing something).
He had to cut out smoking in order to be prepared for the marathon.
She kept clicking her heels. He told her to cut it out.
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Hockey is an exciting and healthful form of exercise, well suited to college students, but if it is to retain favor the intercollegiate league should cut out the muckerism which has attended its contests on the ice in recent years.1906, Princeton Alumni Weekly, volume 7, page 210:
“Cut that joshing out,” she said, coolly and briskly. “Who do you think you are talking to? Your check, please. Oh, Lordy!—”1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Girl and the Habit”, in Strictly Business: More Stories of the Four Million, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC:
I have no wind, if you want to know the truth. I'm quite a heavy smoker, for one thing — that is, I used to be. They made me cut it out.1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 8:
3
To remove; to omit.
If we cut out the middle-man, we will both have better profits.
Help me find a sharper knife I need to cut you out my life2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Jon Levine, Scott Jacoby, “Congratulations”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten:
4
To oust; to replace.
[…] cut him out in the affections of his lady-love!1899, Lady's Realm, volume 5, page 172:
There was little fear that the navigator of the captured Osprey, the man who had lived in Chile and "cut out" cattle on the Carrum Plains, would prove lacking in knowledge of riding, seamanship, or Spanish customs.1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, IV.2:
6
To stop working, to switch off; (of a person on the telephone etc.) to be inaudible, be disconnected.
It was around then that the engine suddenly cut out.
Can you say that again? You keep cutting out.
7
To leave suddenly.
He must have cut out of the party.
'True. I told you to take it home with you. It's still there?' 'Yes, sir.... But I could cut out and be back under the hour—time to do these letters for the post.'1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:
8
To arrange or prepare.
Usually passive voice
He has his work cut out for him.
9
To intercept.
As lax as the visitors' defence was, Blackpool's backline was solid. In the first half the Seasiders cut out final balls to Meireles, one of Liverpool's best players, on two occasions and after the break the brilliant Craig Cathcart got enough on his headed clearance to prevent Torres from planting into the net at the far post.2011 January 12, Saj Chowdhury, “Liverpool 2 - 1 Liverpool”, in BBC:
10
Nautical, Transport To take a ship out of a harbor etc. by getting between her and the shore.
11
Australia, Slang To serve time in prison as an alternative to paying fines.
After the flicks, Les and I cut out what was left of the cone money on a milkshake.1963, Ronald Hugh Morrieson, The Scarecrow, Text Classics, published 2012, page 6:
Idiomatic, In the negative Well suited; appropriate; fit for a particular activity or purpose.
I'm not really cut out for camping outdoors. I'm allergic to mosquito bites.
We've got our work cut out for us.
2 more examples
Do you think he is cut out for the role of manager?
I was cut out to be a jazzman the way the righteous are chosen for the church.1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Don’t Cry, Ma”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 3:
A hole or space produced when something is removed by cutting.
a dress with cut-out sides
Mr. John L[awrence] Gihon, a well-known photographer, knowing the difficulty which many have experienced in the making and use of the medallions, has made for the trade some very fine medallions and masks or cut-outs of different sizes.1874, Charles W. Hearn, “Medallion and Arch-top Printing”, in The Practical Printer. A Complete Manual of Photographic Printing. […] Containing Full Details concerning All the Styles and Processes of Plain and Albumen Paper Printing and of Printing on Porcelain, with an Example of Printing by the Author, and nearly One Hundred Illustrations, Valuable to Both the Learner and the Practiced Printer, Philadelphia, Pa.: Benerman & Wilson, →OCLC, page 66:
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A basic characteristic of compression-loaded square isotropic plates with large cut-outs, that is somewhat counter-intuitive at first glance, is that under certain circumstances they exhibit higher buckling loads than corresponding plates without cut-outs.1995, “Buckling and Postbuckling Behaviour of Laminated Composite Plates with a Cut-out”, in G. J. Turvey, I. H. Marshall, editors, Buckling and Postbuckling of Composite Plates, London: Chapman & Hall, →ISBN, page 273:
When you pass the ball out along the line and deliberately skip the receiver next to you, it's called a cut-out pass[…]. The pass travels right in front of the adjacent player, but instead of reaching out and taking the ball, he fakes grabbing it and lets it fly by to the next player in the line. The phrase two-man cut-out means that the ball-carrier has thrown the ball past the first two players next to him in the attacking line, sending it instead to the third man in the line.2007, Mathew [Timothy] Brown, Patrick Guthrie, Greg Growden, “Individual Skills”, in Rugby For Dummies, 2nd edition, Mississauga, Ont.: John Wiley & Sons Canada, →ISBN, page 152:
2
A piece cut out of something.
Unless a boy is a very good carpenter, and has great patience and plenty of time at his command, I cannot advise him to attempt making a built model,—at all events, not until he has formed several cut-outs first. One of these "cut-outs" will serve as a model or form from which he may frame his "built vessel," with such modifications as he may deem necessary.1866, William H. G. Kingston, “How to Make a Boy's Boat”, in Edmund Routledge, editor, Routledge's Every Boy's Annual. An Entertaining Miscellany of Original Literature, London; New York, N.Y.: George Routledge and Sons, The Broadway, Ludgate Hill; New York: 129, Grand Street, →OCLC, page 275:
When preparing an activity, simply copy the activity cards, cut them apart, and attach them to the cut-outs. If desired, laminate and cut out the assembled cut-outs for extra durability.2007, Joyce Kohfeldt, “Introduction”, in Math Activities Using Colorful Cut-outs: Grade 2, Greensboro, N.C.: Carson-Dellosa Publishing, →ISBN, page 5:
3
A free-standing, rigid print (usually life-sized), often displayed for promotional purposes; a standee.
The sentry didn't answer. Taking a closer look at him I realised he wasn't a real sentry but a cut-out sentry, guarding not a real but a cut-out border.2011, Jug Suraiya, “A Career of Pissing People Off”, in JS & the Times of My Life: A Worm's Eye View of Indian Journalism, Chennai: Tranquebar Press, →ISBN:
The best of friends become the worst of enemies when Barney makes a hilarious attack ad where he viciously pummels a cardboard cut-out of Homer before special guest star Linda Ronstadt joins the fun to both continue the attack on the helpless Homer stand-in and croon a slanderously accurate, insanely catchy jingle about how "Mr. Plow is a loser/And I think he is a boozer."2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “The Simpsons (Classic): ‘Mr. Plow’ [season 4, episode 9; originally aired November 19, 1992]”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2016:
4
A kind of cookie produced in a certain shape by use of a cookie cutter.
Use a 1½-inch (4 cm) cutter to remove the center of twelve cookies; the cookie centers need the same baking time. Bake all the cookies (including the center cut-outs) for 12 minutes, or until the bottoms are light golden brown.2014, Celine Steen, Tamasin Noyes, Vegan Finger Foods:
5
An item of clothing, such as a dress or shoe, designed with portions cut away.
6
A trusted middleman or intermediary, especially in espionage.
A cut-out, or intermediary, forms the link between two agents or between an agent and the outside world. He may know very little about the organization and just carry messages, or he may be a liaison officer who is able to answer questions and take decisions; but the important thing is that he should not undertake any other subversive activity. […] A cut-out should be able to contact inconspicuously each of the two agents between whom he is the link.1943 November, Special Operations Executive (UK), “Organization”, in How to be a Spy: The World War II SOE Training Manual (Secret History Files), Toronto, Ont.; Tonawanda, N.Y.: Dundurn Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 102:
In alias, I recruited a fellow who worked for a foreign Communist installation (I thought this was a nice touch) to serve as our go-between, or cutout as it is called in the trade, […]1997, Duane R[amsdell] Clarridge, Digby Diehl, A Spy for All Seasons: My Life in the CIA, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, →ISBN, page 94:
The automatic magnetic cut out, opens the circuit between battery and generator when the generator is running slow or engine is stopped, also referred to as the "vibrator type" of cut out.1916, A[ndrew] L[ee] Dyke, “Instruction No. 27. The Electric Generator: Principle. Construction. Operation. Regulation”, in Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia. … Containing 366 Charts with a Dictionary and Index: Treating on the Construction, Operation and Repairing of Automobiles and Gasoline Engines, 5th rev. and enlarged edition, St. Louis, Mo.: A. L. Dyke, →OCLC, figure 2 caption, page 338:
The semiconductor also enhances regulation of the charging system, the older dynamo being controlled by two or three relay-like devices: 1. a cut-out that disconnects the dynamo from the battery when the generated voltage drops below that of the battery, as is the case when the engine is not running.2009, Rick Astley, “Charging System”, in Classic British Car Electrical Systems: Your Guide to Understanding, Repairing and Improving the Electrical Components (The Essential Manual), Dorchester, Dorset: Veloce Publishing, →ISBN, page 57:
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[T]he cut-out of a control interrupts or opens the electric circuit. The cut-in closes the electric circuit, and the differential is the difference between the cut-in and the cut-out points. […] As you can see, the differential controls the pressure or temperature difference between the cut-in and cut-out settings.2016, John A. Tomczyk, Eugene Silberstein, William C. Whitman, William M. Johnson, “Automatic Control Components and Applications”, in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technology, 8th edition, Boston, Mass.: Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 355:
Agriculture, Business, LifestyleUS The separation of a group of cattle from a herd; the place where they are collected.
When the stray men have worked the herd, it is drove off a ways and turned loose. The calves in the cut-out groups are then branded and turned loose with their mothers; the strays are thrown into the stray herd or day herd.1958, Fay E. Ward, The Cowboy at Work: All about His Job and How He Does It, with 600 Detail Drawings by the Author, New York, N.Y.: Hastings House, →OCLC, page 24: