Today is Hallowen and rather appropriatly todays word is CUT! I promise l didn't cheat...remember l don't pick the words. You would think this would be easy..yes? actually no! By that l mean it seemed straight forward enough that is, until l did my usual dictionary search.......................IT COULD BE INTERPRETED IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS!!! l was quite shocked!ha!
After much thinking and looking around while we drove to Rustington, l eventually decided to concentrate on the definition of the word "cut" as meaning for example... a passage cut or dug out, as a railroad cutting , drainnage or a new channel made for a river or other waterway. I was quite pleased with the end result. For once, l was glad there were unfinished road works around so as l had a fairly good choice to work from!
CUT
verb ( cutting ; past and past part. cut ) [ trans. ]
1 make an opening, incision, or wound in (something) with asharp-edged tool or object : he cut his big toe on a sharp stone | he cut open MacKay's face with the end of his hockey stick | [ intrans. ] figurative his scorn cut deeper than knives.
2 remove (something) from something larger by using a sharpimplement : I cut his photograph out of the paper | some prisoners had their right hands cut off.
• informal castrate (an animal, esp. a horse).
• remove the foreskin of a penis; circumcise.
• ( cut something out) make something by cutting : I cut out some squares of paper.
• ( cut something out) remove, exclude, or stop eating or doing something undesirable : start today by cutting out fatty foods.
• ( cut something out) separate an animal from the main herd.
3 divide into pieces with a knife or other sharp implement : cut the beefinto thin slices | he cut his food up into teeny pieces.
• make divisions in (something) : land that has been cut up by streams into forested areas.
• separate (something) into two; sever : they cut the rope before he choked.
• ( cut something down) make something, esp. a tree, fall by cutting it through at the base.
• ( cut someone down) (of a weapon, bullet, or disease) kill or injure someone : Barker had been cut down by a sniper's bullet.
4 make or form (something) by using a sharp tool to remove material :workmen cut a hole in the pipe.
• make or design (a garment) in a particular way : [as adj. ] ( cut) an impeccably cut chalk-stripe suit.
• make (a path, tunnel, or other route) by excavation, digging, or chopping : plans to cut a road through a rain forest | [ intrans. ] investigators called for a machete to cut through the bush | figurative a large woman with a voice that cut through crowds.
5 trim or reduce the length of (something, esp. grass or a person's hair or fingernails) by using a sharp implement : cutting the lawn | cut back all the year's growth to about four leaves.
6 reduce the amount or quantity of : buyers will bargain hard to cut the cost of the house they want | I should cut down my sugar intake | [ intrans.] they've cut back on costs | the state passed a law to cut down on drunk-driving | the paper glut cuts into profits.
• abridge (a text, movie, or performance) by removing material : he had to cut unnecessary additions made to the opening scene.
• Computing delete (part of a text or other display) completely or so as to insert a copy of it elsewhere. See also cut and paste .
• (in sports) remove (a player) from a team’s roster.
• end or interrupt the provision of (something, esp. power or food supplies) : we resolved to cut oil supplies to territories controlled by the rebels | if the pump develops a fault, the electrical supply is immediately cut off.
• ( cut something off) block the usual means of access to a place : the caves were cut off from the outside world by a landslide.
• absent oneself deliberately from (something one should normally attend, esp. school) : Robert was cutting class.
• switch off (an engine or a light).
7 (of a line) cross or intersect (another line) : the point where the line cuts the vertical axis.
• [ intrans. ] ( cut across) pass or traverse, esp. so as to shorten one's route : the following aircraft cut across to join him.
• [ intrans. ] ( cut across) have an effect regardless of (divisions or boundaries between groups) : subcultures that cut across national and political boundaries.
• [ intrans. ] ( cut along) informal dated leave or move hurriedly : you can cut along now.
8 dated ignore or refuse to recognize (someone).
9 [ intrans., often in imperative ] stop filming or recording.
• move to another shot in a movie : cut to a dentist's surgery.
• [ trans. ] make (a movie) into a coherent whole by removing parts or placing them in a different order.
10 make (a sound recording).
11 divide (a pack of playing cards) by lifting a portion from the top, either to reveal or draw a card at random or to place the top portion under the bottom portion.
12 Golf slice (the ball).
13 adulterate (a drug) or dilute (alcohol) by mixing it with another substance : speed cut with rat poison.
14 ( cut it) informal come up to expectations; meet requirements : this CD player doesn't quite cut it. [ORIGIN: shortened form of the idiom cut the mustard.]
noun
1 an act of cutting, in particular
• [in sing. ] a haircut : his hair was in need of a cut.
• a stroke or blow given by a sharp-edged implement or by a whip or cane : he could skin an animal with a single cut of the knife.
• figurative a wounding remark or act : his unkindest cut at Elizabeth was to call her heartless.
• a reduction in amount or size : she took a 20% pay cut | a cut ininterest rates.
• (in sports) a removal of a player from a team’s roster.
• an act of removing part of a play, movie, or book, esp. to shorten the work or to delete offensive material : they would not publish the book unless the author was willing to make cuts.
• an immediate transition from one scene to another in a movie.
• Golf the halfway point of a golf tournament where half of the players are eliminated.
• Tennis a stroke made with a sharp horizontal or downward action of the racket, imparting spin.
2 a result of cutting something, in particular
• a long narrow incision in the skin made by something sharp.
• a long narrow opening or incision made in a surface or piece of material : make a single cut along the top of each potato.
• a piece of meat cut from a carcass : a good lean cut of beef.
• [in sing. ] informal a share of the profits from something : the directors are demanding their cut.
• a recording of a piece of music : a cut from his forthcoming album.
• a version of a movie after editing : the director's cut.
•
• a woodcut.
3 [in sing. ] the way or style in which something, esp. a garment orsomeone's hair, is cut : the elegant cut of his dinner jacket.
ORIGIN Middle English (probably existing, although not recorded, inOld English ); probably of Germanic origin and related to Norwegiankutte and Icelandic kuta ‘cut with a small knife,’ kuti ‘small bluntknife.’
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