cutting

▪ I. cutting, vbl. n.
    (ˈkʌtɪŋ)
    [-ing¹.]
    1. a. The action of the verb cut, in various senses.

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. ii. (1495) 597 Wythout kyttynge or keruynge. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 150 It is necessarie a surgian to make hise kuttyngis & hise brennyngis bi lenkþe of þe necke. 1590 Webbe Trav. 21 There we staide to see the cutting or parting of the Riuer of Nilo..vpon the 25 of August. 1691 tr. Emilianne's Frauds Romish Monks 27 Some gests and cutting of Faces, wherein they oblige the Company to imitate them. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. 63 This shuffling and cutting with atoms. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. 60 Those who live by Cutting of Purses. 1827 in W. Denison Sk. Players (1846) 39 There would be comparatively no cutting to the point or slip. 1856 I. L. Bird Englishw. in Amer. 41 That extreme of civilisation vulgarly called ‘cutting’ is common. 1884 I. Bligh in Lillywhite's Cricket Annual 5 His cutting and off-driving alike masterly.

    b. The action of cutting down prices or underselling; also attrib., as cutting line, cutting work. (colloq.)

1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour, There is great competition in the trade, and much of what is called ‘cutting’, or one tradesman underselling another. Ibid. (1861) III. 425/1 A man started as a grocer in the same street, in the ‘cutting’ line, and I had to compete with him. 1892 Pall Mall G. 15 Mar. 2/1 This cutting work—competition gone mad I call it—is really a gigantic conspiracy against labour.

    c. The separating of cattle from a herd; cf. cut v. 57 d. Also attrib. U.S. and Austral.

1887 F. Francis Saddle & Moccasin (Lentzner), I had been furnished with a trained cutting pony, reported to be one of the best in the valley. 1892 Lentzner Austral. Wd.-bk. 19 Cutting, separating cattle from a herd and lassoing them.

    d. Cinemat. The action of cut v. 21 e. Also in Sound Recording.

1921 A. C. Lescarboura Cinema Handbk. (1922) 21 Cutting, editing a picture by elimination of useless or unacceptable film. 1936 A. Asquith in C. Brahms Footnotes to Ballet vi. 244 Photographing the same scene from different positions and changing them in the cutting. 1958 Listener 6 Nov. 752/2 The success of the total effect was due to the cutting and assemblage of the recordings under the composer's care.

    † 2. An intersection; also a section. Obs.

1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. i. 125 These two straight lines shall come to be cut, in the which cutting shall the Angle of the Bulwarke be. 1726 tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 327 The Arcs of the cutting contain'd between two Parallels are equal.

    3. a. concr. A piece cut off; esp. a shred made in preparing or trimming an object for use.

1382 Wyclif 1 Kings xi. 31 And he seith to Jeroboam, Tak to thee ten kyttyngis. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 449 Codrus..berenge as kyttenges of trees in his necke. 1626 Bacon Sylva §667 The burning also of the cuttings of Vines, and casting them upon Land, doth much good. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. Customs (1821) 110, 550 lbs. Cuttings of Losh Hides, value 3d. per lb. 1825 Lamb Refl. Pillory, Dirty cuttings from the shambles at three-ha'pence a pound.

    b. A quantity that may be cut.

1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail xxvii. 191 ‘Its a fine country,’ went on Thorpe so everyone could hear, ‘with a great cutting of white pine.’ 1957 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol. 55 Cutting, the amount of timber..that can be cut from sawn timber.

    4. spec. a. A small shoot or branch bearing leaf-buds cut off a plant, and used for propagation.

1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 222 Figs..will be propagated by their Suckers, Cuttings, and Layers. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Fierides, The Cuttings being planted in a natural Bed of Earth. 1881 Delamer Fl. Gard. 76 The shrubby Calceolarias..are readily propagated by cuttings.

    b. A paragraph or short article cut out of a newspaper, etc.

1856 N. & Q. 2nd Ser. I. 292, I am desirous of mounting a collection of newspaper cuttings. 1866 Athenæum 24 Nov. 687/1 Hardly more comical than the following ‘cutting’ from the Boston Gazette.

    5. Irish Hist. The levying of a tax or impost; tailage.

1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (1862) 506/2 The Tanist hath..certaine cuttings and spendings upon all the inhabitants under the Lord. 1607 Davies Lett. Earl Salisb. i. (1787) 222 Affirming that the Irish cutting was an usurpation and a wrong. 1612 ― Why Ireland (1787) 127 These chiefries..did consist chiefly in cuttings and cosheries, and other Irish exactions. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. (1821) 232.

    6. A figure produced by cutting; a carving, etc.

1787 F. Burney Diary Sept., She gave me a cutting of my dearest Mrs. Delany..exquisitely resembling her fine venerable countenance. 1852 Motley Corr. (1889) I. v. 139 Curious cuttings in wood and alabaster.

    7. Mining. (See quots.)

1874 Knight Dict. Mech. 668 Cutting, a poor quality of ore mixed with that which is better. Ibid. 669 Cuttings, the larger and lighter refuse which is detained by the sieve in the hotching tub, or hutch.

    8. An open, trench-like excavation through a piece of ground that rises above the level of a canal, railway, or road which has to be taken across it.

1836 Hull & Selby Railw. Act 6 To construct..arches, cuttings and fences. 1838 Simms Public Wks. Gt. Brit. 62 The railway is carried through this cutting. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 23 Some good geological sections may be seen in railway cuttings.

    9. With adverbs. Also attrib. a. cutting away.

c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 335 Þis kitting awei is clepid circumcisioun.

    b. cutting down. spec. cutting-down line (Ship-building): a curved line forming the upper side of the floor-timbers at the middle-line, continued to the stem and stern over the dead-woods, and representing the curve on which the keelson lies; cutting-down, the curve or surface which this line represents.

1469 Bury Wills (Camden) 46 Wythout any dystruccyon or kyttynge down of treis. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Cutting-down line, a curved line used by shipwrights in the delineation of ships. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 113 The cutting-down line is intended to represent, on the Sheer Draught, the limit of the depth of every floor-timber at the middle-line, and also the height of the upper part of the dead-wood afore and abaft. Ibid. 124 They are bolted..to the cutting-down of the knee. Ibid. 142 They must be deeper in the throat or at the cutting-down.

    c. cutting-in: (a) See cut v. 55 c.

1856 [see cut v. 55 c]. 1925 Don'ts for Motorists 55 Cutting in is another evil practice. 1960 News Chron. 7 June 1/2 Bad overtaking and cutting-in—normal faults of holiday drivers.

    (b) See cut v. 55 d.

1920 F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side Paradise (1921) i. ii. 74 The reassured beaux and the eternal cutting in. 1928 Daily Express 14 Dec. 19 The American practice known as ‘cutting-in’..consists..of any man who wishes to dance tapping the shoulder of another man who is already dancing and abducting his partner.

    (c) The action of starting an engine by some device which closes the circuit. Also used of the engine itself, and attrib.

1924 A. W. Judge et al. Mod. Motor Cars III. 74 When the dynamo speed is low, the spring holds the contacts apart, but as soon as the ‘cutting-in’ speed is attained [etc.]. 1928 Motor Manual (ed. 27) 110 A dynamo has what is termed a definite ‘cutting-in’ speed, which means that at, say, 400 revolutions per minute, it begins to generate effective current, which, by the action of a device known as the cut-out, connects the dynamo to the battery and charges it.

    d. cutting-out: (a) See cut v. 57 j. Also attrib., as cutting-out scissors, large scissors for cutting patterns from fabric.

1819 M. Wilmot Let. 21 Dec. (1935) 47 [My] pink dress which you were at the cutting out of. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack xxxii, Virginia..superintended the cutting-out department. 1873 Young Englishwoman Mar. 147/2 Cutting-out scissors, small scissors, and button-hole scissors. 1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 24 May 238/4 Well qualified..in Practical Needlework, with Cutting-out. 1936 R. Lehmann Weather in Streets i. ii. 40 Pins in her mouth, the cutting-out scissors in her hand.

    (b) = sense 1 c.

1874 J. G. McCoy Cattle Trade v. 81 Whilst from six to ten cow boys hold the herd together the ranchman with one or two assistants separate such as are suitable. This process is termed ‘cutting out’. 1877 R. E. Strahorn Hand-bk. Wyoming 35 Our artist has given a very fair representation of the ‘cutting out’ scene. 1884 W. Shepherd Prairie Exper. 34 This cutting-out goes on all the day long. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Squatter's Dream ii. 13 He's the best cutting-out horse. 1910 W. M. Raine B. O'Connor 75 I'm running this cutting-out expedition. 1920 C. E. Mulford J. Nelson xxv. 255 Selecting from their best cutting-out animals, saddles were hastily changed, [etc.].

    e. cutting-up: (a) The action of cut v. 60; spec. boisterous, frolicsome, or silly behaviour. (U.S.)

1687 Congreve Old Bach. iv. ii, A delicious melon..only waits thy cutting up! 1812 Southey Omniana I. 83 Before the butcher's phrase ‘cutting up’ was supposed to be synonymous with criticizing. 1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase ii. 209 Cutting up..consists in cracking nuts and jokes—racing one another and slamming doors—in upsetting chairs, and even kicking up carpets! 1883 J. A. Macon Uncle Gabe Tucker 162 De perlicemen nebber would 'a' let John de Baptis' do any sich cuttin'-up as dat.

    (b) Founding. (See quot.)

1888 J. G. Horner Dict. Mech. Engin. 101 Cutting-up, the gashing of the broken edges or faces of a sand mould preparatory to adding fresh sand for mending-up.

    10. attrib. and Comb., as cutting line, cutting work (see 1 b); cutting place, etc.; esp. in names of tools, etc. used in the process of cutting, as cutting-board, cutting-burnisher, cutting-compass, cutting cylinder, cutting-edge (also fig.), cutting-engine, cutting file, cutting-gauge, cutting-hook, cutting-knife, cutting-machine, cutting-mill, cutting-nipper, cutting-plane, cutting-plate, cutting-plier, cutting-press, cutting-punch, cutting-spade, cutting-table, cutting-tool, etc.; (sense 1 d) cutting-bench, cutting-print; cutting-bed (Microscopy), a part of a microtome on which the cutting knife slides; cutting-bill, a bill for cutting wood; cutting-box, † (a) ? a chaff- or straw-cutter; (b) a receptacle for the diamond dust in diamond-cutting; cutting-brick = cutter n.¹ 7; cutting compound = cutting oil (see also quot. 1963); cutting contest orig. U.S., an informal competition of jazz musicians; cutting horse U.S., a horse trained in separating cattle from a herd (cf. cut v. 57 d); cutting-house, a house where the cutting of clothing materials, meat, or other substances is done; cutting oil, a preparation for the lubrication and cooling of the tool and the piece of metal being cut or worked in various machining operations; cutting pony U.S., a pony trained in separating cattle from a herd (cf. cut v. 57 d); cutting-pot, a pot used for the planting of cuttings; cutting-room, (a) a room where the cutting of clothing materials, meat, etc. is done; † (b) a room where surgical operations are performed; (c) a room where a film is cut or edited (see cut v. 21 e); cutting service (Lawn Tennis), a service in which the player cuts the ball; cutting session orig. U.S. = cutting contest; cutting-shoe, a shoe specially constructed for horses which cut or interfere (see cut v. 27); cutting stick, a strip of wood or other material which receives the edge of the knife in the cutting cylinder of a paper-cutting machine as it severs each sheet; cutting stylus = cutter n.¹ 4 c.

1881 W. B. Carpenter Microscope (ed. 6) v. 229 The circular *cutting-bed, instead of being fixed on the upper end of the cylinder, is made to screw upon it.

1936 P. Rotha Documentary Film ii. 77 Nothing photographed, or recorded on to celluloid, has meaning until it comes to the *cutting-bench.

1601 Holland Pliny I. 536 Able to beare the *cutting bill. 1771 Phil. Trans. LXI. 161 Other sorts [of trees] bear the woodman's cutting-bill more kindly.

1825 Hone Everyday Bk. I. 1081 It..furnishes shoemakers with their *cutting-boards.

1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. Jan. vii. 69 The Chaffcutter's Way was, to..put them upon some Cavings of Wheat..that he first placed at the Bottom of the long *Cutting-box. 1778 H. Herbert Mil. Equitation 136 Every troop ought to have a cutting-box..and one man constantly employed..in chopping hay, straw, &c.

1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 187 The finest kind of marl and red bricks are called *cutting bricks.

1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Cutting-compass, a compass, one of whose legs is a cutter, to make washers, wads, and circular disks of paper for other uses.

1910 Metall. & Chem. Engin. May 293/1 They mixed a small amount..with their *cutting compound and..the tool did not blunt nearly so rapidly as before. 1963 R. F. Webb Motorists' Dict. 71 Cutting compound, an abrasive paste used for smoothing the paintwork of a car before the final polishing.

1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues 372 *Cutting contest, competitive get-together of performers. 1969 Listener 13 Mar. 358/3 Not to mention cutting contests in jazz, Eisteddfodau, and the choral and brass-band competitions which flourish in Northern industrial towns.

1909 Daily Chron. 11 June 7/5 Each colour is rolled out in long sheets, and passes through separate rollers upon which what is known as a ‘*cutting cylinder’ is rotating continuously, one to each colour. 1929 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 166/2 In this process the scratched material is rolled into a continuous sheet, and led..under a revolving ‘cutting cylinder’. 1964 Gloss. Letterpress Rotary Print. Terms (B.S.I.) 23 Cutting cylinder, the cylinder that holds the knives that cut the web into individual lengths or sheets.

1825 Loudon Encycl. Agric. §501 It resembles a large..shovel, strongly prepared with iron on the *cutting edge. 1831 Mech. Mag. 23 July 334 The cutting-edges must be parallel to each other. 1909 A. Berget Conquest of Air ii. v. 212 Angle of cutting edge, 7 degrees. 1927 Carr-Saunders & Jones Soc. Struct. Eng. & Wales 207 No one supposes that it is possible to put a sharp cutting-edge on a leaden blade. 1966 Rep. Comm. Inquiry Univ. Oxf. I. 56 There is a cutting edge to our recommendation that Oxford should..remain of medium size.

1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 495 If both wheels are cut in the *cutting-engine by the same cutter.

1601 Holland Pliny I. 530 Some good husbands..with a *cutting hook (turning the edge vpward) fetch vp the eies budding out beneath.

1881 G. W. Romspert Western Echo 177 Each firm has particular horses trained for this business, and they are called ‘*cutting horses’. 1937 Dialect Notes VI. 618 A cutting horse is one especially trained to separate..a single animal from a whole herd. (I have seen one ‘cutting’ horse who could ‘cut’ a hen from a big flock of chickens.)

1660 Pepys Diary 10 Mar., In the morning went to my father's, whom I took in his *cutting house.

1925 F. Walton Linoleum 48 An octagonal cylinder, arranged with a number of *cutting knives.

1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 43/2 A rotary *cutting-machine or ‘ripper’. 1891 Chase & Clow Stories of Industry II. 43 The cutting-machine or shearing engine..shears the nap off close, leaving a smooth face to the cloth.

1917 J. R. Battle Lubricating Engin. Handbk. 300 The usual soluble *cutting oil is made of a combination of oils..and is designed to permit its being mixed with varying amounts of water to form a stable cutting emulsion. 1955 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VIII. 248/2 Today there are various brands of cutting oils, most of which are mixtures of mineral oil, soaps, and an emulsifying chemical which makes the oils mix readily with water. These keep the tool and work-piece cool during the cutting operations, and so prevent excessive wear and distortion of the work.

1664 Evelyn Sylva (1776) 500 At the Kerf, or *cutting place near the root. 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1949/4 He hath rubbed the Hair in the cutting place behind.

1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 195 The *cutting-plate itself is in the form of a screw, and thus acts both as a drill and cutting-plate.

1887 F. Francis Saddle & Mocassin (Lentzner), I had been furnished with a trained *cutting pony. 1902 A. MacGowan Last Word 435 A lady that's been as able as any cowboy on the range..to manage anything, from a cuttin' pony as fine as silk, to the meanest buckin' bronc.

1953 K. Reisz Technique Film Editing 279 *Cutting-print, the particular positive print which the editor assembles and on which he works.

1892 E. P. Dixon (Hull) Seed Catalogue 30 A great acquisition for *cutting purposes.

1708 New View Lond. II. 763/2 The *Cutting Room..where they cut for the stone. 1840 Dickens M. Humphrey iv. 101 A young hairdresser..had..a floor-clothed cuttin'-room upstairs. 1902 Daily Chron. 25 Oct. 7/6 At the rear is a cutting-room, where meat is cut up. 1918 R. Wagner Film Folk vi. 273 The cutting room of a studio is the slaughterhouse of vain ambition. 1936 ‘J. Tey’ Shilling for Candles ii. 23 Treating me like bits on the cutting-room floor. 1936 Words Oct. 6/1 Cutting room terms are especially exotic. 1959 Guardian 9 Nov. 5/7 The young technicians..crowded into the cutting-room to watch some..experimental commercials.

1874 Field 8 Aug., Far better than a game run off by a *cutting service.

1959 Jazz Review May 12/1 A wild *cutting session was in progress and sitting around the piano were twenty or thirty musicians.

1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4832/4 [A horse] shod with *cutting Shoes turn'd up the inside Web.

1888 Wilson & Grey Mod. Printing Mach. iii. xxvi. 431 Small cutting machines are frequently turned by hand... *Cutting-sticks, which fit into the table immediately under the knife, are generally made of hard wood.

1926 Wireless World 15 Sept. 399/2 This megaphone concentrated the sound waves on to a mechanical diaphragm to which was connected a *cutting stylus resting on a revolving disc of soft wax.

1883 Harper's Mag. Feb. 443/2, I caught the young ragamuffin up on one of the *cutting-tables dancing.

▪ II. ˈcutting, ppl. a.
    [-ing².]
    1. That cuts, in various senses of the verb.

c 1400 Destr. Troy 12802 A kene spere, cuttyng before. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 43 Full of cutting and sharpe rockes. 1620 Venner Via Recta vii. 109 It is of a cooling, cutting, and penetrating faculty. 1696 Lond. Gaz. No. 3247/4 Two Swords, one..with a full cutting Blade. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 215 Their Edge Tools..are also of a different shape..towards the cutting end. 1885 H. C. McCook Tenants Old Farm 240 Several large colonies of cutting-ants.

    b. Of wind, weather, etc.

1798 Southey Eng. Eclogues iv, 'Tis cutting keen! I smart at every breath. 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. 270 In Lightning and cutting hail. 1834 H. Martineau Farrers i. 1 Perhaps you don't know..what a cutting wind it is.

    c. That cuts down prices or undersells. colloq.

1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 262 (Hoppe), Those employers who seek to reduce the prices of a trade are known technologically as ‘cutting employers’. Ibid. (1861) III. 425/2 By that time other ‘cutting’ shops were opened. 1884 Christian World 12 June 443/4 An employer of the cutting sort would..say ‘Now, we must produce this article for a shilling less’.

    2. That acutely wounds the mind or feelings.

1583 Stanyhurst æneis iv. (Arb.) 111 Dido the poore Princesse gauld with such destenye cutting, Crau's mortal passadge. 1652 Stapylton Herodian xiv. 115 Their cutting quips and wonted jeering. 1754 Richardson Grandison IV. iv. 31 You said cutting things! Very cutting things. a 1796 H. Venn in Compl. Duty Man, Mem. (1841) 18 The cutting affliction of losing you. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley ix. 123 He can say the driest, most cutting things in the quietest of tones.

    † 3. That is a ‘cutter’ or swaggering blade. Obs.

1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1860) 3 Cutting Hufsnufs Roisters. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon v. 19 Wherefore have I such a company of cutting knaves to wait upon me. 1592 ― Disput. 28 Brave youthfull Gentlemen and cutting companions. [1821 Scott Kenilw. xix, The cutting mercer of Abingdon..dashing Master Goldthred.]

Oxford English Dictionary