cut and dried Definition

cut
verb cut, cutting

tr & intr
1. To slit, pierce, slice or sever (a person or thing) using a sharp instrument.

Thesaurus: sever, cleave, quarter, dissect, shear, behead, bisect, amputate, truncate, rive, hew, pierce, puncture, gash, wound, gouge, incise, perforate.
Form: cut something off (also)
Form: cut something out
2. To divide something by cutting.

Form: cut something up (often)
3. To trim (hair, nails, etc).
4. To reap or mow (corn, grass, etc).
5. To prune (flowers or plants).
6. To make or form it by cutting.

Form: cut something out (sometimes)
7. To shape the surface of (a gem) into facets, or decorate (glass) by cutting.
8. To shape the pieces of (a garment).

Example: He cuts clothes so that they hang perfectly
9. To make (a sound recording).
10. To injure or wound with a sharp edge or instrument.
11. To hurt.

Example: cut someone to the heart
12. To reduce (eg prices, wages, interest rates, working hours, etc).
13. To shorten or abridge (eg a book or play).

Thesaurus: edit down, condense, abridge, shorten.
14. To delete or omit.
15. To edit (a film).
intr
16. To stop filming.
intr
17. cinema.
Said of a film or camera: to change directly to another shot, etc.
18. math.
To cross or intersect.
19. To reject or renounce.

Example: cut one's links with one's family
20. informal
To ignore or pretend not to recognize someone.
21. To stop.

Example: The alcoholic was told to cut his drinking or risk serious liver damage
22. informal
To absent oneself from something.
Example: cut classes
23. To switch off (an engine, etc).
24. cricket.
To hit (a ball) with a slicing action, causing it to spin or swerve.
25. Said of a baby: to grow (teeth).
intr
26. To go off in a certain direction; to take a short route.

Form: cut across (usually)
Form: cut through
27. To dilute (eg an alcoholic drink) or adulterate (a drug).

Example: John cuts his whisky with ginger ale
Thesaurus: weaken, dilute, adulterate, water.
28. To divide; to partition.

Example: a room cut in half by a bookcase

noun

1. An act of cutting; a cutting movement or stroke.
2. A slit, incision or injury made by cutting.

Thesaurus: incision, severance, cleft, hack, slash, notch, slit.
3. A reduction.

Thesaurus: reduction, decrease, diminution, elision, omission.
4. A deleted passage in a play, etc.
5. The stoppage of an electricity supply, etc.
6. slang
One's share of the profits.
7. A piece of meat cut from an animal.
8. The style in which clothes or hair are cut.
9. A sarcastic remark.
10. A refusal to recognize someone; a snub.
11. A short cut.
12. A channel, passage or canal.

Idiom: a cut above something

colloq
Superior to it.
Thesaurus: superior to, higher than, better than, more efficient than, more capable than, more competent than.

Idiom: cut and dried

Decided; definite; settled beforehand.
Thesaurus: fixed, settled, routine, prearranged, predetermined, sewn up.

Idiom: cut and run

colloq
To escape smartly.

Idiom: cut and thrust

Aggressive competition; quick verbal exchange or repartee.

Idiom: cut both ways

To have advantages and disadvantages; to bear out both sides of an argument.

Idiom: cut someone dead

To ignore them completely.

Idiom: cut it fine

colloq
To have or leave barely enough time, space, etc for something.

Idiom: cut it out

slang
To stop doing something bad or undesirable.

Idiom: cut out for something (cut out to be something)

Having the qualities needed for it.
Thesaurus: suitable for, fit for, good for.

Idiom: cut something short

To reduce or shorten it.
Thesaurus: diminish, abbreviate, abridge, shorten.

Idiom: cut someone short

To silence them by interrupting.

Idiom: cut up

colloq
Distressed; upset.

Idiom: cut up rough

colloq
To get angry and violent.

Idiom: cut a long story short

To come straight to the point.

Idiom: half cut

(rit)
slang
Drunk.

Etymology: 13c as cutten.

Phrasal Verb: cut across something

To go against (normal procedure, etc).Said of an issue, etc: to be more important than, or transcend (the barriers or divisions between parties, etc).To take a short cut through it, eg a field, etc.

Phrasal Verb: cut back on something

To reduce spending, etc. See also cutback.

Phrasal Verb: cut something down

To fell a tree, etc.

Phrasal Verb: cut down on something

To reduce one's use of it; to do less of it.

Phrasal Verb: cut in

To interrupt.Said of a vehicle: to overtake and squeeze in front of another vehicle.

Phrasal Verb: cut something off

To separate or isolate it.To stop (the supply of gas, electricity, etc).To stop it or cut it short. See also cut-off.

Phrasal Verb: cut someone off

To disconnect them during a telephone call.

Phrasal Verb: cut out

Said of an engine, etc: to stop working.Said of an electrical device: to switch off or stop automatically, usually as a safety precaution. See also cut-out.

Phrasal Verb: cut something out

To remove or delete it.To clip pictures, etc out of a magazine, etc.To stop doing it.To exclude it from consideration.To block out the light or view. See also cut-out.

Phrasal Verb: cut someone up

Said of the driver of a vehicle: to drive in front of (another vehicle) in a dangerous manner.

---

dry
adj drier, driest

1. Free from or lacking moisture or wetness.

Thesaurus: parched, arid, desiccated, barren, dehydrated, drained, thirsty, shriveled; Antonym: wet, moist, damp.
2. With little or no rainfall.
3. From which all the water has evaporated or been taken.

Example: a dry well
4. Thirsty.
5. Said of an animal: no longer producing milk.
6. Said of wine, etc: not sweet.
7. Not buttered.

Example: dry toast
8. Said of humour: expressed in a quietly sarcastic or matter-of-fact way.

Thesaurus: droll, tongue-in-cheek, satirical, subtle, sarcastic, sly, ironic, sardonic, oblique, witty; Antonym: obvious, broad.
9. Forbidding the sale and consumption of alcohol.
10. Said of eyes: without tears.
11. Dull; uninteresting.

Thesaurus: dull, boring, tedious, monotonous, pedantic, long-winded, interminable, dreary, tiresome; Antonym: lively, spicy.
12. Lacking warmth of character.
13. Said of a cough: not producing catarrh.

verb dries, dried, drying

tr & intr
1. To make or become dry.

Thesaurus: dehydrate, desiccate, drain, harden, mummify, parch, shrivel, wilt, wizen; Antonym: soak, wet.
tr
2. To preserve (food) by removing all moisture.

noun

dries, drys
1. colloq
A staunch right-wing British Conservative politician. Compare wet.

Derivative: drily
adverb

Derivative: dryness
noun

Idiom: cut and dried

See under cut.

Idiom: high and dry

See under high.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon dryge.

Phrasal Verb: dry off

To become completely dry.

Phrasal Verb: dry something off

To dry it completely.

Phrasal Verb: dry out

To become completely dry.To receive treatment to cure addiction to alcohol; to have one's addiction cured.

Phrasal Verb: dry something out

To dry it completely.

Phrasal Verb: dry up

To dry thoroughly or completely.To cease to produce or be produced.Said of a speaker or actor: to run out of words; to forget lines while on stage.To shut up or be quiet.

Phrasal Verb: dry something up

To dry (dishes) after washing them.