Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to make a pass at another person’s partner; thus cut-in act.

1819		W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor 374: Ashamed of your company? — but no, no! — Gad, he was afraid you would cut in and carry off the girl.
1840		T. Haliburton Clockmaker III 42: He drew the wool over my eyes so about Desire Tupper that I gin up a-going there, and then he cut in there and got the prize hisself.
1889		C. Deveureux Venus in India I 76: We thought it mean of Searles to try and cut in whilst you were out!
1899		W.J. Kountz Billy Baxter’s Letters 49: If some guy cuts in on your steady [...] you are going to call her fine and plenty, aren’t you? And unless she promises to bump the other fellow, you are going to leave her in a rage.
1924		P. Marks Plastic Age 212: [He] joined the stag line, waiting for a chance to cut in.
1935		E. Freeman ‘The Whirling Hub’ in Afro-American (Baltimore, MD) 16 Mar. 15/1: The boastful lady-loving femme did a cut-in act on the hubby.
1938		M. Rand ‘Clip-Joint Chisellers’ in Ten Story Gang Aug. 🌐 Here I’ve been taking care of that damned Blinkie guy [...] and the son has been cutting in on me.
1945		W.R. Burnett Tomorrow’s Another Day 93: ‘She a girl friend of yours, Jack?’ ‘No. I’ve had her out to dinner once or twice. ‘Maybe I can cut in then?’ ‘Why not?’.
1950		‘Hal Ellson’ Tomboy (1952) 100: There’s not supposed to be any cutting in.
1960		E. De Roo Big Rumble 123: Whenever she danced with someone else, she motioned that he should cut in.
1967–8		Baker et al. CUSS 103: Cut in on his time Take someone else’s date away.

2. (also cut oneself in, have a cut-in) to become involved.

1843–4		Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1995) 391: I advise you to keep your own counsel, and to avoid tittle-tattle, and not to cut in where you’re not wanted.
1889		B. Mitford Fire Trumpet I 30: You better cut in with us; just look how well we live here.
1899		Ade Fables in Sl. (1902) 109: The copper, perceiving that he had come very near getting Gay with our First Families, Apologized for Cutting In.
1903		Bulletin (Sydney) 3 Sept. 16/1: We were ‘broke,’ and Mayne considered that the time had duly come / For us to have a cut-in at the game. / So he told a little story which, though strange and puzzlesome, / Was a truthful little story all the same.
1911		Out West Oct. 240: The society lady whose friend is ‘in the swim’ at a fashionable resort and who invites you to ‘cut in on a rubber of whist.’.
1929		C. Coe Hooch! 201: He saw the opportunity and he cut himself in.
1936		R. Chandler ‘Goldfish’ in Red Wind (1946) 170: How did you cut in?
1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 267: You’re cuttin’ in too close, Dealer.
1952		Lait & Mortimer USA Confidential 14: One gangster or local group of them tries to ‘cut in’ on the perquisites or molls of another affiliated bunch.
1985		E. Leonard Glitz 137: Maybe the head Tuna didn’t like you cutting in on his act.

3. (also cut oneself in) to receive a share, to be included in a proposition or plan.

1900		Flynt & Walton Powers That Prey 46: I’m playin’ the pennyweight game alone, an’ he might want to cut in.
1937		J. Tully Bruiser 29: Cut me in on another hundred of that.
1947		I. Shulman Amboy Dukes 17: Some of the guys’ll want to get cut in.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 289: That twicer wants to get in on it, this property deal. That dirty rotten bastard wanted to cut in on me.
1960		J.D. Macdonald Slam the Big Door (1961) 56: He’d cut himself in on a lot of pieces of somethin’ else.
1966		J. Holledge Great Aust. Gamble 148: ‘The Turk’ [...] was ‘cut-in’ on the gambling profits for ‘strong-arm’ protection.
1967		(con. 1950s) McAleer & Dickson Unit Pride (1981) 81: Do you guys think Coggins’d help us if we cut him in for a couple of cases?
1971		R.T. Sale Blackstone Rangers 126: ‘I just hope you ain’t figured out a cute way to fat yourself up with money without bothering to cut in the rest of us Stones’.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 148: Guy’s not with anybody outside, but he’s got a rabbi downtown. He’s being cut in on some Intelligence operation.

4. (also have a cut-in) to give a share.

1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Dec. 30/3: ‘’Ere y’are, bloke. I’ll ’ave a cut in wiv yer.’ / ‘You’re too late, Jimmy. The money was sent last week.’.
1929		D. Hammett ‘Fly Paper’ Story Omnibus (1966) 51: I was being cut in on it.
1931		D. Runyon ‘Gentlemen, the King!’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 184: He [...] will also cut the King in.
1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 105: The old hen has cut me in on her corn, Jack.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 76: You’re cutting Hill in fifteen per cent.
1955		B. Appel Tough Guy [ebook] The Office’d cut the Spotter and Frank Fannelli in for a slice of the Dutchman’s numbers empire.
1960		Wodehouse Jeeves in the Offing 83: You would cut me in fifty-fifty on your last bag of acid drops.
1989		(con. 1950s–60s) in G. Tremlett Little Legs 59: Let me cut you in on this.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 110: They would cut me in for a third.
2001		C. Stella Eddie’s World 74: Then you still want to cut him in, you could do that too. Give him some money.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 232: He cut him in [...] but Russell had been the one taking all the risks.

5. (US Und.) to introduce oneself to a potential victim.

1911		G. Bronson-Howard Enemy to Society 41: If th’ policeman is square and it looks like an arrest, th’ gang cuts in with their black-jacks and knocks th’ copper and th’ challenger cold.
1940		D. Maurer Big Con 294: To cut in. 1. intr. To break into a conversation; to accost a mark.

6. to approach.

1979

‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 31: Now gander [...] the ’ho’s style on that paddy cutting in to her.