Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(Aus./N.Z.) constr. with the, corporal punishment, esp. of schoolchildren.

1939		L. Mann Mountain Flat 48: School’s in, Mr Westfield. Give Ted Sutton the cuts if he’s late [AND].
1945		F. Sargeson When Wind Blows 14: [You] would get the cuts for sure [DNZE].
1962		P.A. Lawlor More Wellington Days 100: I think it was brother Augustine who initiated the lay-by system of ‘cuts.’.
1978		M. Paige Shadow of Wings 99: There was no law against caning, I’d had the ‘cuts’ plenty of times [AND].
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 33/2: cuts corporal punishment in antipodean schools; eg ‘It wasn’t fair the whole class getting the cuts, old Jolly knew which ones were the culprits.’.
1993		Age (Melbourne) Good Weekend 6 Nov. 41/2: His contact was such that he got the cuts 86 times in one semester.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].