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PlainSpell

cut

/kʌt/verb, adjective, noun, interjection

cut is spelled C-U-T: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 174 times per million words in written English, the 576th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, cut means “To perform an incision on, for example with a knife” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in cut?

Letters3: C-U-T
Syllables1
In writing174 times per million words; the 576th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is cut?

Cut appears 174 times per million words in written English, the 576th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cut?

  • US /kʌt/
  • Australia /kɐt/
  • /kʊt/

Cut has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cut.wav, En-us-cut.ogg, En-au-cut.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with cut?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cut from its last stressed vowel (/ʌt/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of cut

  • cuts present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • cutting participle, present
  • cvt
  • more cut comparative
  • most cut superlative
  • α-cuts plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cut mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To perform an incision on, for example with a knife.

  2. 2

    To divide with a knife, scissors, or another sharp instrument.

    Would you please cut the cake?

  3. 3

    To form or shape by cutting.

    I have three diamonds to cut today.

  4. 4

    slangTo wound with a knife.

  5. 5

    To engage in self-harm by making cuts in one's own skin.

    The patient said she had been cutting since the age of thirteen.

  6. 6

    To deliver a stroke with a whip or like instrument to.

  7. 7

    To wound or hurt deeply the sensibilities of; to pierce.

    Sarcasm cuts to the quick.

  8. 8

    To castrate or geld.

    to cut a horse

adjective

  1. 1

    Having been cut.

  2. 2

    Reduced.

    The pitcher threw a cut fastball that was slower than his usual pitch.

  3. 3

    Carved into a shape; not raw.

  4. 4

    Played with a horizontal bat to hit the ball backward of point.

  5. 5

    Having muscular definition in which individual groups of muscle fibers stand out among larger muscles.

  6. 6

    informalCircumcised or having been the subject of female genital mutilation.

  7. 7

    AustraliaslangUpset, angry; emotionally hurt.

    ‘Here y'are,’ says the happy butcher, dragging out a bucket. ‘Good riddance. But me dogs'll be cut tonight, I tell ya. That's their grub.’

  8. 8

    slangIntoxicated as a result of drugs or alcohol.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of cutting.

    He made a fine cut with his sword.

  2. 2

    An attack made with a chopping motion of the blade, landing with its edge or point.

  3. 3

    A time period when one attempts to lose fat while retaining muscle mass.

  4. 4

    The result of cutting.

    a smooth or clear cut

  5. 5

    An opening of a living body resulting from cutting; an incision or wound.

  6. 6

    Such a wound through human skin.

    Look at this cut on my finger!

  7. 7

    A notch, passage, or channel made by cutting or digging; a furrow; a groove.

  8. 8

    Such a passage dug for a roadway for a paved road or railroad, a canal, a runway, etc.

    a cut through the hillside for a railroad

interjection

  1. 1

    An instruction to cease recording.

    Near-synonym: scene

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cut in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcouper, inciser (to perform an incision), coupé, coupée, coupés, coupées (having been cut)
Germaneinschneiden (to perform an incision), geschnitten (having been cut), schneiden (to divide with a sharp instrument), trennen (to separate from prior association), ausschneiden (computing: to remove and place in memory), klappe (to cease recording)
Portuguesecortar, incisar (to perform an incision), cortado (having been cut), remover, retirar (to separate from prior association), recortar (computing: to remove and place in memory)
Spanishcortar (to perform an incision), cortado (having been cut), mondar, tonsurar, tranzar (to divide with a sharp instrument), tallado (of a gem, carved into a shape)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cut come from?

From Middle English cutten, of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *kytja, *kutta, from Proto-Germanic *kutjaną, *kuttaną (“to cut”), of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *kwetwą (“meat, flesh”) (compare Old Norse kvett (“meat”)). Sometimes instead compared to French couteau, itself from Latin culter (“knife”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cut