Cut off or cutoff?
cut off is a verb meaning “To remove by cutting”; cutoff is a noun meaning “The point at which something terminates or to which it is limited”. Use cut off as a verb and cutoff as a noun. cut off is written as two words and cutoff as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between cut off and cutoff?
| cut off | cutoff | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun, adjective | noun, adjective |
| Meaning | To remove by cutting To isolate or remove from contact Having had shirt sleeves or pantlegs shortened by cutting material from the end | The point at which something terminates or to which it is limited A cutoff point (cutoff value, threshold value, cutpoint): the amount set by an operational definition as the transition point between states in a… Constituting a limit or ending |
| Example | Half of his head has been cut off by the edge of the photo | none recorded |
| Forms | none | cutoffs |
| Pronunciation | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | /kəˈtɒf/ /kəˈtɔːf/ /kəˈtɔf/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 1.6 times per million words |
Sources: cut off and cutoff in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of cut off and cutoff
cut off
- 1
To remove by cutting
- 2
Alternative form of cutoff
- 3
Alternative spelling of cutoff
- 4
Having had shirt sleeves or pantlegs shortened by cutting material from the end
- 5
To isolate or remove from contact
- 6
To stop the provision or supply of something, e.g. power, water
- 7
To exclude (something) from the field of view
Half of his head has been cut off by the edge of the photo
- 8
To stop providing funds or something else to (someone)
His parents cut him off to encourage him to find a job
cutoff
- 1
The point at which something terminates or to which it is limited
- 2
Constituting a limit or ending
- 3
A cutoff point (cutoff value, threshold value, cutpoint): the amount set by an operational definition as the transition point between states in a discretization or dichotomization
- 4
Designating a score or value demarcating the presence (or absence) of a disease, condition, or similar
- 5
A road, path or channel that provides a shorter or quicker path; a shortcut
- 6
A device that stops the flow of a current
- 7
A device for saving steam by regulating its admission to the cylinder (see quotation at cut-off)
- 8
A cessation in a flow or activity
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, cut off or cutoff?
cut off is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; cutoff 1.6 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search cut off vs cutoff?
“cut off vs cutoff” is searched about 50 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“cutoff vs cut off”, “cut off or cutoff”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.