cut a wide swath
"cut-a-wide-swath" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cut a wide swath” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To clear a broad track through a grassland, woodland, geographical region, or other area, either by natural means or by human action.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cut-a-wide-swath · cut a wide swath · English
cut a wide swath · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 16 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cut a wide swath |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cut a wide swath” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cut a wide swath is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cut a wide swath, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is cut a wide swath, spelled C-U-T- -A- -W-I-D-E- -S-W-A-T-H.
Definition
- 1To clear a broad track through a grassland, woodland, geographical region, or other area, either by natural means or by human action.
- 2To behave in an expansive, flagrantly showy, or pushy manner, especially in public venues; to exert sweeping influence.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cut a wide swath appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Sherman started from Atlanta in the middle of November. He cut a wide swath of desolation through the South.
Swinging his bloody horns from side to side the beast cut a wide swath before him.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.