cutaway

noun, adj — 7 senses

cutaway

noun

/ˈkʌtəweɪ/

Etymology Deverbal from cut away.

1

A men's coat with the front cut back away from the waist, as worn on formal occasions.

  • Besides the broad-brimmed hat, he was distinguished by a spotted tie, a pair of seedy check trousers rather baggy in the seat, and a cut-away coat, much too tight for him.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 96:
2

A diagram or model having outer layers removed so as to show the interior.

  • [...] The two assets of the book are clear explanation, and a multitude of extremely helpful diagrams, some in two colours, and cutaway photographs; these clearly unravel a difficult subject for the layman, as well as the student engineman for whom the primer is chiefly designed.1959 March, “New Reading on Railways: The Railwayman's Diesel Manual. By William F. Bolton. G. H. Lake. 7s. 6d.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 172:
3

Broadcasting, Cinematography, Film, Media, Television A brief shot that temporarily takes the viewer away from the principal action, especially to show a reaction, illustration etc.; an instance of moving to such a shot.

  • Despite a pre-debate “memorandum of understanding” between the Bush campaign and the Kerry campaign that there would be no televised “cutaways” or reaction shots […]2004 October 18, The New Yorker:
  • [T]he director struggles to jazz up his stilted blocking with clumsy montage cutaways, which are only effective in the upbeat, darkly funny number “Sincerely, Me,” in which Evan dreams up a dance-filled fantasy of his fake friendship with Connor.2021 September 22, Caroline Siede, “Dear Evan Hansen is a misfire on just about every level”, in AV Club:
4

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music An indentation in the upper bout of a guitar's body adjacent to the neck, allowing easier access to the upper frets.

5

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A guitar having a cutaway.

6

Ireland, Abbreviation Short for cutaway bog

  • Thousands of hectares of cutaway are now under squares of grass and conifers, but by the 1990s it was obvious that most of the total area was suitable only for "non-productive" uses.2002 July 10, “Cutaway bog promises new, wild landscapes”, in Irish Times, Ireland:
  • This vast land-art and sculpture park is on a former cutaway bog – “cutaway” being the term for a bog where all the commercial peat has been extracted.2025 March 29, “‘Thanks to the bogs, life will continue. Just not ours’”, in Irish Times, Ireland:
Related terms
cutaway bog, cut-out

cutaway

adj

Etymology Deverbal from cut away.

1

Computer graphics, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences Having selected portions of the outside removed so as to give an impression of the interior.

  • While it used to take several seconds to generate a single cutaway view in a complex freeform model, you can now view them just about instantly by dynamically scrolling and rotating a plane forward and backward through an object.2004 January, CADalyst:
Related terms
cross section, exploded view, transection

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.