Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see separate entry.

see under shine n.²

(US) to leave, to run off.

1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS 136/1: cut A (a) = cut out. [...] A euphem. for cut ass.
1969		W. Eastlake Bamboo Bed (1970) 51: Sarge, we could cut ass out.

(N.Z.) to run away/off, escape, e.g. from prison, from pursuing authorities.

2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 51/1: cut a track v. 1 to escape (esp. from prison) 2 to run away (esp. from the police), to avoid arrest.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 57: cut a track Leave, usually in a hurry.

to leave, to run off.

1664		C. Cotton Virgil Travestie (1765) Bk I 19: Away they cut as swift as Swallows. [Ibid.] Bk IV 90: Put on the Wings that used to bear ye, / And cut away to Carthage quickly.
1831		‘Gallery of 140 Comicalities’ Bell’s Life in London 24 June 1/3: Here’s the b----y Traps! Cut away, my kiddy.
1831		Mr Mathews’ Comic Annual 22: Now, Jim, my boy, cut away.
1841		‘Ballet Girl’ Gentleman’s Spicey Songster 5: And when I’d watched them out of sight, / I sighed, and cut away.
1847		R.F. Walond Paddiana II 102: So I cuts aff to Foot’s for the snuff.
1855		T. Haliburton Nature and Human Nature II 24: Dey tink it is night, and cut off.
1855		‘Sunday Trading Bill’ in C. Hindley Curiosities of Street Lit. (1871) 115: To the gin shop you can cut away.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor III 114/1: I cut away and come up to London again.
1871		C.G. Leland ‘Breitsmann in Germany’ Hans Breitmann in Europe 258: Dear lofe, so shendle und so goot! / I’ll cut away mit dee.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 31 Oct. 6/3: Only give me a king to talk to and you will make my life a real treat. So now cut away, and if you and your intelligent subjects haven’t that trim little schooner of mine piled up with pearl-shells before sundown, the next mariner that visits this island will find himself alone.
1898		E. Pugh Tony Drum 25: I got up mighty quick, and cut off as fast as I could go.
1900		G.R. Sims In London’s Heart 5: He’s green at the game, or he wouldn’t have cut off like that.
1905		Marvel 23 Dec. 64: Cut away, or you’ll be fined!
1920		Marvel 10 Apr. 3: You’ve had enough. Cut away and sleep it off somewhere!
1923		N. Anderson Hobo 82: It [wanderlust] comes upon us unaware; and often we cut away and go.
1934		D.L. Sayers Nine Tailors (1984) 81: You cut off home.
1947		N. Marsh Final Curtain (1958) 248: You cut off and don’t worry about it.
1951		Kerouac On the Road (The Orig. Scroll) (2007) 188: The most beautiful little gone gals in the world cut by.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 115: You used the glass to keep a vic in sight without being on his case too lean. And you didn’t cut off like you’d been goosed if he saw you.

(US) to steal a ride on a vehicle.

1947

(con. 1870s) F. Weitenkampf Manhattan Kaleidoscope 83: ‘Cut behind’ or ‘hitch behind’ notified a driver that a boy was stealing a ride on the back of his vehicle, by hanging on to it or by attaching his bob-sled.

to run off, to make an escape.

1858		F.W. Farrar Eric II 291: We must cut for it.
1899		C. Rook Hooligan Nights 60: ’E said ’e’d be at ’and if I had to cut for it.
1934		R. Baker Penal Battalion 80: ‘Why can’t we get free, and cut for it?’ asked one, with a hysterical break in his voice.

see hit the grit under grit n.²

to run off (to).

1843		Satirist & Sporting Chron. (Sydney) 18 Feb. 3/2: Why not follow the example of his great military prototype of old [...] and cut it, his creditors and the Colony at once.
1853		Dickens Bleak House (1991) 144: A vocalist [...] who is released upon the flight of the rest, on condition of his getting out of this then, come! and cutting it — a condition he immediately observes.
1879		Besant & Rice ‘Seamy Side’ Appleton’s Journal (N.Y.) Nov. 412: Then there’s nothing for it [...] but to — cut it.
1882		‘F. Anstey’ Vice Versa (1931) 77: Bosher said, ‘Let’s cut it!’ and he and Peebles bolted.
1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 278: He heard that all the shepherds at the lower station had cut it to the diggings.
1900		Marvel XIV:344 June 4: Well, we’ll cut it.

to run off.

1821		Egan Life in London (1869) 379: Our heroes made their lucky as soon as they conveniently could.
1834		‘Mrs. Jones’ Delicious Chanter 31: I’ll cut my lucky – and hide.
c.1838		G.W.M. Reynolds ‘The House Breaker’s Song’ in Farmer Musa Pedestris (1896) 122: At dusk we’ll make our lucky, and then, / With our nags so fresh, and our merry men, / We’ll scour the lonely ground.
1840		Flash Mirror 6: Bouncing. — Walking into a coffee-house, blowing out your kite till you cannot eat any more, flooring the shopkeeper and making your lucky.
1843		N.Y. Sporting Whip 4 Feb. 3/2: The young gentleman had all he had bargained for, and [...] told her in the most bland and polite terms to cut her lucky.
1843		Satirist & Sporting Chron. (Sydney) 11 Mar. 4/1: And as I’m not reckoned excessively pluckey, / I wish you good evening — for I’ll cut my luckey.
1845		J. Lindridge Sixteen-String Jack 210: Jared had requested him over and over again, to bolt, mizzle, hook it, namhus, kut his lucky, shake his trotters, waggle his extenders.
1846		Bell’s Life in Sydney 8 Aug. 3/4: Another man, who being prevented from running the stuff off, had run off himself, and made his lucky.
1853		Delhi Sketch Bk 1 Oct. 63/2: I cut my lucky and went home to bed.
1857		advert in ‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue (1857) 45: On his return home he was stunned to find one of the top manufacturers of Manchester had cut his lucky, and stepped off to the Swan Stream.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor II 154/1: The ‘Johnnys’ on the water are always on the look out, and if they sees any on us about, we has to cut our lucky.
1871		Gympie Times (Qld) 11 Jan. 3/6: He never goes away or withdraws, but [...] ‘cuts his stick’ — or [...] ‘cuts his lucky!’.
1876		C. Hindley Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack 78: Mike, as he was leaving the house, put his hand into a flour-tub and threw some over me, and then cut his lucky.
1886		S. Watson Wops the Waif 9/2: As soon as ever I sees the coast clear, I shall cut my lucky.
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 21 Sept. 4/1: ‘We’ll have to cut our lucky, for the game is finished here’.
1899		‘Pot’ & ‘Swears’ Scarlet City 189: Your Uncle theobald has cut his lucky.
1901		Marvel XV:377 Jan. 11: The brute scared Babyface, anyhow, and he cut his lucky.
1918		K.F. Purdon Dinny on the Doorstep 155: Tim, having been roughly bidden to ‘cut his lucky out of that afore they came back,’ sloped off.
1929		(con. c.1910) J.B. Booth London Town 305: When I get there, e’d cut ’is lucky.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 222: Drink your tea, grab your bag, and take your lucky.

see separate entry.

(US) to leave, to depart.

1957

H. Simmons Corner Boy 48: Let’s cut our wheels, man.

to be in a hurry.

1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1906		E.W. Gilliam Uncle Sam and the Negro in 1920 242: Yes, yer blasted rip, you’d better cut quick sticks and skedaddle, or I’d quilt yer.

to render completely impotent.

1973

Bernstein & Woodward All the President’s Men 298: [H]e’s got to convince everybody—the prosecutors, the press and Senator Sam’s people on the Hill—that he’s telling the truth. Otherwise the White House will cut his balls off .

(US campus) to leave a situation, e.g. a party.

1894

Star-Gaz. (Elmira, NY) 15 May 4/3: Yale College Slang [...] They were trying to sew me up [...] and I wasn’t going to get my leg jerked, so I cut the game.

(Aus. prison) a male-to-female sex-change operation.

1990

Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Cut and tuck. Sex change. Transexual’s operation whereby the penis is removed and a vagina of sorts is surgically created.

see separate entries.

see separate entry.

see also under relevant n.

(US) to make a mistake, esp. an embarrassing one.

1936		R.F. Adams Cowboy Lingo 206: To make oneself ridiculous was to ‘cut a big gut’.
1943		Boston Globe (MA) 28 Feb. 55/3: Pinto looked his brother over scornfully [...] ‘You shore did cut a big gut.’ [...] Paint bristled up, ‘Don’t you dast to talk thataway to me!’.
1953		Randolph & Wilson Down in the Holler 237: cut a big gut: phr. To do something foolish, to make oneself ridiculous.
1975		J. Hayes Long Dark Night 36: You made the wrong assumptions, Diehl, and you took action on them, precipitous action. [...] Well, anybody could cut a big gut.

see frost a cake v.

to break wind.

1909

J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 102/1: Cut a finger (Lower Classes). To cause a disagreeable odour; e.g., ‘My hi! some cove’s cut ’is finger.’.

(US) to make a mistake, esp. when attempting a task beyond one’s abilities.

1912		DN III 574: Cut a big hog in the mouth with a small knife [...] To attempt something beyond one’s capacity.
1929		C. McKay Banjo 221: You won’t be able to stand them drunk or sober. I know it. You’ll cut a hell of a hog before you know what’s happening.
1937		Z.N. Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God (1995) 254: B’lieve Ah done cut uh hawg, so Ah guess Ah better ketch air.
1947		F.G. Cassidy ‘More Notes from Wisconsin’ in AS XXII:4 299: Cut a hog in two [...] Example: Dan started for Portage, where he met his brother H.W. ‘I’ve come up to study law with you, by thunder.’ H.W replied sharply, ‘You have? You are a darned fool; you’d better stick to printing. You’ll cut a hog in two studying law? But if you are bound to stick to law, you can see what you can do.’.
1958		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 4 Jan. 8: I don’t attempt to explain [...] whether Lincoln cut a hog freeing so many of our ancestors .
1960		Pittsburgh Courier 8 Oct. 2: [headline] Did Herter ‘Cut A Hog’ on Kwame?
1966		in DARE.
1971		(con. 1920s) G.M. Foster Pops Foster 101: If you cut a hog in a record in those days, you had to stop and start over on a whole new wax.
1988		(con. 1930s) C.E. Lincoln The Avenue, Clayton City (1996) 17: If someone made an embarrassing faux pas, would he tell him that he had just ‘cut a hog’?
1992		(con. 1910s) F.M. Davis Livin’ the Blues 45: You clowns shut up [...] Ev’ry time a bunch of us gits out in public, somebody’s gotta cut a hog.
2004		S. Henke Broken Vows 167: But you’ve gone and cut a hog in the ass now, boyo [...] He’s comin' to you right enough.
2008		W. Bagley Always a Cowboy 176: He thought Palmer had ‘cut a hog in the ass’ when he built the road.

(US prison) to assault a fellow inmate.

2000

Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Cut That Knot: Beat up on a prisoner. (TX).

see cut the rug v.

see under beef n.¹

see under slice n.

to strike a blow.

1821		Egan Life in London (1869) 347: In a street row, / Cut away like a plough.
1821		‘A Real Paddy’ Real Life in Ireland 53: Cut away for life and death in Dublin!

(US) to run away, to depart at speed.

1825		N.-Y. American 2 Mar. 2/4–5: When near the [police] office, [he] gave his keepers the slip, and as the saying is, ‘cut dirt,’ or [...] gave them leg-bail.
1829		‘Negro Song,’ [i.e. ‘Coal Black Rose’] quoted in S. J. and C. 287: He jump up fo’ sartin – he cut dirt and run [...] [F&H].
1832		J.K. Paulding Westward Ho! I 127: Cut dirt, stranger, for your life; there’s a whirlwind coming.
1836		D. Crockett Exploits and Adventures (1934) 215: He cut dirt in beautiful style.
1839		Western Scenes n.p.: Now you cut dirt, and don’t let me see you here again for a coon’s age, you hear!
1840		T. Haliburton Clockmaker III 248: He is all sorts of a hoss, and the best live one that ever cut dirt this side of the big pond.
1843		T. Haliburton Sam Slick in England II 30: Well, the way she cut dirt was cautionary; she cleared stumps, ditches, windfalls and every thing.
1847		J.M. Field Drama in Pokerville 132: ‘Now cut dirt, d--n you!’ screamed I.
1848		Bartlett Dict. Americanisms 104: to cut dirt. To run; to go fast. A vulgar expression, probably derived from the quick motion of a horse or carriage over a country road, which makes the dirt fly.
1856		G.W. Harris ‘Playing Old Sledge for the President’ Nashville Union and American XXVIII Oct. in Inge (1967) 236: Seaward cut dirt as soon as that awful jack was turned.
1862		J.R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd series (1880) 44: Why two-thirds o’ the Rebbles ’ould cut dirt, / Ef they once thought thet Guv’ment meant to hurt.
a.1871		Border Adventures 231: Now, I say, old hoss, if you don’t hurry up and cut dirt like streak-lightnin’, this child goes arter you, and you look out for a windin’ sheet, you hear? [F&H].
1872		Schele De Vere Americanisms 594: To cut dirt, for running away in haste, is evidently taken from the fondness of Americans for fast driving.

see separate entries.

1. (US) to assault comprehensively (sometimes with a bladed weapon).

1926		Van Vechten Nigger Heaven 247: A yellow girl [...] stood facing another woman seated with two men. Ah’ll turn yo’ damper down! she screamed. Ah’ll cut you every way but loose! the other retorted.
1969		C. Himes Blind Man with a Pistol (1971) 145: ‘She turned him every way but loose,’ one of the black boys said in awe. ‘Cut him two-way side and flat,’ the other corroborated.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 11: Políto say that spook kid like to bust him everyway but loose.
1977		W.D. Myers Mojo and the Russians 109: ‘[I]f I catch them little fools messin’ around [...] I’m gonna turn them every which way but loose, so help me’.
1979		Eve. Sun (Baltimore, MD) 6 Feb. 28/3: Bell boasted about his skill with the blade and crowed, ‘I cut him every way but loose’.
1980		Atlanta Constitution (GA) 20 Feb. 5/2: ‘If that’s the man who attacked her, she cut him every way but loose’.

2. (US) to indulge with wide-ranging sex.

2008

J. Lansdale Leather Maiden 81: ‘You could stay, shack up for a few days [...] She’ll turn you every way but loose’.

see separate entry.

(US) to move very fast.

1843

W. Oliver Eight Months in Illinois 33: Look at him – see how he cuts gravel — whoop, halloo, &c.

see hit the grit under grit n.²

see separate entry.

see separate entries.

very drunk.

1650		Eighth Liberal Science n.p.: No man must call a Good-fellow Drunkard [...] But if at any time they spie that defect in another, they may without any forfeit or just exceptions taken, say, He is Foxt, He is Flaw’d, He is Fluster’d, He is Suttle, Cupshot, Cut in the Leg or Back, He hath seen the French King, He hath swallowed an Hair or a Taven-Token, he hath whipt the Cat, He hath been at the Scriveners and learned to make Indentures, He hath bit his Grannam, or is bit by a Barn Weasel.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Cut, Drunk; Deep Cut . . .Cut in the Leg or Back, very drunk.
1700		‘The Art of Drinking’ in Wit’s Cabinet 138: He is flaw’d, [...] cut in the Leg or Back.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1803		‘A Pembrochian’ Gradus ad Cantabrigiam 52: ‘He has cut his leg’ — periphrasis, He is drunk.
1857		Quinland I 134: You are as balmy as a summer evening, as shiny as a new boot; you are sprung and cut in the eye; come, rouse yourself [DA].

see separate entry.

(Can. prison) to sport a prison-made tattoo.

1978

R. Caron Go-Boy! 36: The local tattoo artists did a landslide business [...] It’s a small miracle that I did not cut any on.

(US) to break wind.

1972

D. Jenkins Semi-Tough 9: ‘When she came out of the bathroom, I was gonna cut one that would jar the window shades, and then for the rest of our married life there wouldn’t be no trouble about me fartin’ around the house’.

1. to die.

1800		‘The Sailors Consolation’ in Jovial Songster 45: Life’s cable must one day or other be parted.
1867		‘Spanking Jack’ in Champagne Charley Songster 54: [as cit. 1800].

2. (also cut one’s stick) to run away.

1830		W.H. Williams Wreck II ii: Cut your cables.
1840		R. Barham ‘Lay of St. Cuthbert’ in Ingoldsby Legends (1842) 229: Cut your stick, sir – come, mizzle! – be off with you! – go!
1856		C. Reade It Is Never Too Late to Mend III 129: So then he cut his stick!
1899		‘Pot’ & ‘Swears’ Scarlet City 21: He had us both in his grip before we could cut our cables.

see under eye n.

1. to step in excrement [euph.].

1953

Randolph & Wilson Down in the Holler 118: When a well-bred country boy is walking with his girl, and sees that she is about to step into some cow dung, he says, ‘Don’t cut your foot!’.

2. thus, to make a stupid blunder.

1848

J.R. Lowell Biglow Papers (1880) 112: Ef I’d expected sech a trick, I wouldn’t ha cut my foot / By goin’ and votin’ fer myself, like a consumed coot.

see scrape one’s horns under horn n.²

to be hanged.

1834

(con. 1737–9) W.H. Ainsworth Rookwood (1857) 177: And my father, as I’ve heard say [...] Was a merchant of capers gay / Who cut his last fling with great applause.

to earn one’s own living.

1866		J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffin 80: Hain’t he almost old enough to begin to think about cutting his own grass, Jim?
1869		J. Greenwood Seven Curses of London 59: The poorer the family, the earlier the boys are turned out, ‘to cut their own grass,’ as the saying is.
1877		Five Years’ Penal Servitude 242: ‘Cut her own grass! Good gracious, what is that,’ I asked. ‘Why, purvide her own chump — earn her own living,’ the old man replied.

see cut one’s cable

see separate entries.

see cut the rug v.

see tear someone a new asshole v.

(orig. US black) to challenge, with the intention of proving one’s superiority, usu. in the context of verbal, dancing or musical competitions.

1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 231: All the contenders for the title [...] wanted to cut him down – that is, prove they were the best in the field.
1954		Hepster’s Dict. 2: Cut you down – Put somebody in place.
1968		G. Cuomo Among Thieves 216: It was to your benefit that someone like Penney tried to fag you early, as long as you could cut him down. The word got around, and people left you alone.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 329: They cut her down without batting an eye.

1. to introduce someone to a scheme, supposedly advantageous.

1914		R. Lardner ‘Horseshoes’ in Coll. Short Stories (1941) 257: It’ll be pretty soft for you, because they got the pennant cinched and they’ll cut you in on the big money.
1944		R. Martin ‘Tea Party Frame-Up’ in Mammoth Detective May 🌐 Rowden came to me tonight and told me the whole setup, offered to cut me in.
1958		(con. 1950) E. Frankel Band of Brothers 271: I’m gonna cut you in on all the hot poop.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 51: So you want to cut me into the action, is that it?
1999		‘Master Pimp’ Pimp’s Rap 139: Sixth Street Blue had cut us in the porno business.

2. to meet someone.

1936		Conwell Professional Thief 236: Cut Into, v. – Make contact with, interfere with.
1965		C. Brown Manchild in Promised Land (1969) 246: He wasn’t drinking when I cut into him about six months before.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 104: The best thing that happened to me that year was that I cut into Elisabeth Miller.

3. to introduce one person to another.

1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 94: I can’t cut you into him, Kid.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 234: I’m gonna cut you into this big redheaded stallion. She’s so fine.

(US) to let go, to release someone.

1890		A.C. Gunter Miss Nobody of Nowhere 193: I’ve heard of you; the populace say you cut me out with Miss Tillie.
1963		Dundes & Schonhorn ‘Kansas University Sl.: A New Generation’ in AS XXXVIII:3 171: To get away from an unpleasant or undesirable person: cut out.

to expose someone’s tricks.

1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 311/1: They like to be there before any one cuts their cart (exposes their tricks).
1873		Sl. Dict.

to humiliate; to disgrace, to ‘bring down a peg’.

1822		(con. early 17C) W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel I 53: I will take my own time; and all the Counts in Cumberland shall not cut my comb.
1836		T. Haliburton Clockmaker I 189: It cut their combs, that’s a fact.
1836		D. Crockett Exploits and Adventures (1934) 189: He told me [...] the fellow was going the big figure; and that he had exposed him to some ladies, which completely cut his comb, and he took wing.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.

see cock ten under cock v.⁴

to break wind; esp. in phr. who cut the cheese?

1969		Esquire 72 69/1: Who cut the cheese? The true clue: he who smelt it dealt it.
1973		Lucas et al. Amer. Graffitti [film script] Hey, man, who cut the cheese?
1982		W. Safire What’s The Good Word? 87: ‘Cheese-eater’ [is] related to ‘cutting cheese’ as an expression for farting.
1986		S. King It (1987) 226: My friend you might as well ask me ‘Who cut the cheese?’ and have done with it.
1997		Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 87 Dec. n.p.: cut the cheese euph. To fart.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 cut the cheese v 1. to flatulate. (‘Nasty! Did you cut the cheese again?!’).
2005		Lee & Van Dijk [title] Winchell Cuts the Cheese.

(US) to have an alcoholic drink, esp. after a period of abstaining or deprivation.

1981

L. Block Stab in the Dark 82: ‘[I]t’s been a long day and a dry one. How about a little something to cut the dust?’.

(US black) to act the fool, esp. when dealing with white people, to play tricks.

1948		Z.N. Hurston Seraph on the Suwanee (1995) 866: Oh, the fool is stuck on you, Mrs Meserve. Sweet on you and cutting the fool.
1961		O. Davis Purlie Victorious in Black Drama I i: Quit cutting the fool in front of company.
1974		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 2: cutting the fool – playing around.
1986		D. Barker Life in Jazz 35: I would see small boys dancing and cutting the fool for tourists, who would throw them coins.

(Ulster) an errand boy.

1997

Share Slanguage.

to cut a long story short.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1821		J. Burrowes Life in St George’s Fields 13: If we hadn’t cut the line he’d soon have talk’d us blind.

see separate entry.

see separate entry.

see separate entry.

a glass of spirits.

1873

Dundee Courier 14 Jan. 7/3: ‘Juist gie’s a glass o’ yer strongest “cut the wind” an’ nae mair havery aboot it’.

see cut the crap v.

1. to undersell.

1859, 1860

Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc.

2. (US black) to insult.

1954

in C. Major Juba to Jive (1994).

see separate entries.

see bust some Z’s under z n.¹

(Irish) a general phr. of greeting.

1986		Magill June n.p.: The driver, a man with a cheery grin, hopped out and ran over to Joey. ‘How’s she cuttin’, chief?’ Joey gestured helplessly [BS].
1998		J. O’Connor Salesman 146: Nap would come trundling into the lane, peer out of his van [...] and call, ‘How’s she cuttin’ Larry, I’ve no news yet on yer friend’.