1876. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 143. One of
the greatest cuts I ever knew was once when a man was speaking of
Chris. Newman and saying what a good sort he was, upon which the
other said, ‘What do you mean by saying that? Why, d— me, sir, he
never called for a bottle of champagne in his life!’
Adj. (old).—Tipsy; on the cut = on the spree. For synonyms, see
Screwed.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.). Cut (a.) ... also an epithet
applied to one who is drunk, as, He is deeply cut, that is, he is
so drunk, that he can neither stand nor go.
1830. Pierce Egan, Finish to Life in London, p. 214. Terry was
terribly cut.
1848. Thackeray, Book of Snobs, ch. xli. I was so cut last night,
old boy! Hopkins says to Tomkins (with amiable confidence).
1859. Punch, vol. XXXVII., p. 22. Our friend prone to vices you
never may see, Though he goes on the Loose, or the cut, or the
Spree.
Verb (old).—1. To talk.
1567. Harman, Caveat (1814), p. 66.
To cutte, to say.
To cut benle, to speake gentle.
To cut bene whydds, to speake or give good words.
To cutte quyer whyddes, to geue euil words or evil language.
1622. Head and Kirkman, The English Rogue. This Doxie Dell can cut
bien whids, and drill well for a win.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. Meg’s true-bred; she’s the
last in the gang that will start—but she has some queer ways, and
often cuts queer words.
1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 230 (ed. 1864). Here I am, pal
Peter; and here are my two chums, Rust and Wilder. Cut the whid.
1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, ch. ix. The infatuated young man went
on cutting his jokes at the Admiral’s expense, fancying that all
the world was laughing with him.
2. (colloquial).—To disown, ignore, or avoid associating with, a
person. Sometimes to cut dead.—See Cut, subs., sense 2. An article in
the Monthly Magazine for 1798 cites cut as a current peculiarity of
expression, and says that some had tried to change it into ‘spear,’ but
had failed.
1634. S. Rowley, Noble Souldier, Act ii., Sc. 1. Why shud a
Souldier, being the world’s right arme, Be cut thus by the left, a
Courtier?
1794. Gent. Mag., p. 1085. I no sooner learned he was at the ‘Black
Bull’ than I determined to cut the old codger completely.
1811. Miss Austen, Sense and Sensibility, ch. xliv. That he had cut
me ever since my marriage, I had seen without surprise or
resentment.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, ch. xli. ‘You are angry with her because
she cut you,’ growls Clive. ‘You know you said she cut you, or
forgot you; and your vanity’s wounded.’
1864. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, ch. viii. It was only a
slight satisfaction to hear that she has utterly lost sight of my
rival, and promises to cut him dead the first time they meet.
1870. Daily News, 26 May, ‘Leader.’ The old Greeks dedicated an
altar to the Unknown God, for fear of cutting some jealous but
obscure deity through ignorance of his existence and attributes.
Also as verbal substantive, cutting.
1840. Mrs. Gore, The Dowager, ch. xiii. [On the Continent.] Every
person’s place in Society is so definite ... that except in cases
of some enormous breach of propriety, no person once established
can ever be expelled. Unless for cogent reasons, he could not have
been there at all.... There is no talk of ‘cutting.’ Such an
outrage would reflect on the perpetrator rather than on the person
‘cut.’ All the vulgar caprices consequent on a shifting state of
society are unknown.
3. (general).—Also to cut and run, cut it, cut one’s lucky, cut one’s
stick, cut off, cut away, etc. To depart more or less hurriedly and
perforce. [Originally nautical—to cut the cable and run before the
wind.] Cut over and cut away formerly bore precisely the same meanings.
For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle.
1570. Lambarde, Perambulation of Kent. Let me cut over to Watling
Streete.
1593. Nashe, Countercuffe to Martin Junior, in wks., vol. I., p.
79. He came latelie ouer-sea into Kent, fro thence he cut ouer into
Essex at Grauesende.
1678. C. Cotton, Scarronides, bk. IV., p. 86 (ed. 1725). Put on the
Wings that used to bear ye, And cut away to Carthage quickly.
1841. Punch, vol. I., p. 51. Explain the philosophical meaning of
the sentence. ‘He cut away from the crushers as quick as a flash of
lightning thro’ a gooseberry bush.’
1857. Dickens, Little Dorrit, bk. I., ch. xxxi., p. 238. ‘I see
precious well,’ said Mr. Tip, rising, ‘that I shall get no sensible
or fair argument here to-night, and so the best thing I can do is
to cut.’
1888. Rider Haggard, Mr. Meeson’s Will [in Illus. Lond. News,
Summer Number], p. 2, col. 3. Off you go! and mind you don’t set
foot in Pompadour Hall, Mr. Meeson’s seat, unless it is to get your
clothes. Come, cut.
4. (trade).—To compete in business; to under-sell. A cutting trade is
one where profits are reduced to a minimum. Also cut under.
1874. H. Mayhew, London Characters, p. 469. All agreed in referring
their misery to the spirit of competition on the part of the
masters—the same universal desire to cut under.
1883. L. Oliphant, Altiora Peto, II., xxiii., 78. So we dissolved
partnership, and I went in with another chap, to work on some kind
of principle, but Ned was all the time cutting under us by bringing
out some new contrivance—he’s great on electricity, Ned is.