Cut it out: learning English with Ed Stein's comic strip

cut out 

1 cut out cuts out; cutting out

If you cut something out, you remove or separate it from what surrounds it using scissors or a knife.

 Cut out the coupon and send those cheques off today.

 I cut it out and pinned it to my studio wall.

PHR-V The form cut is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle

= cut, omit

3 cut out cuts out; cutting out

To cut out something unnecessary or unwanted means to remove it completely from a situation. For example, if you cut out a particular type of food, you stop eating it, usually because it is bad for you.

 I've simply cut egg yolks out entirely.

 We will be pressing ahead with our policies on privatisation, deregulation and cutting out waste.

 A guilty plea cuts out the need for a long trial.

PHR-V The form cut is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle

= eliminate

4 cut out cuts out; cutting out

If you tell someone to cut something out, you are telling them in an irritated way to stop it. (INFORMAL)

 Do yourself a favour, and cut that behaviour out.

 `Cut it out, Chip,' I said.

 He had better cut out the nonsense.

PHR-V The form cut is used in the present tense and is the past tense and past participle feelings

= stop

= exclude * include 

(c) HarperCollins Publishers.