cut up
"cut-up" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cut up” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cut upward.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cut-up · cut up · English
cut up · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 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 up |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cut up” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cut up is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 10 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cut up, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is cut up, spelled C-U-T- -U-P.
Definition
- 1To cut upward.
- 2To cut into smaller pieces, parts, or sections.
- 3To lacerate; to wound by multiple lacerations; to injure or damage by cutting, or as if by cutting.
- 4To distress mentally or emotionally.
- 5To severely criticize or censure; to subject to hostile criticism.
- 6To behave like a clown or jokester (a cut-up); to misbehave; to act in a playful, comical, boisterous, or unruly manner to elicit laughter, attention, etc.
- 7To move aggressively in front of another vehicle while driving.
- 8To disintegrate; to break into pieces.
- 9To divide into portions well or badly; to have the property left at one's death turn out well or poorly when divided among heirs, legatees, etc.
- 10Comprise a particular selection of runners.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cut up appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
With a little practice, you can cut up a whole chicken yourself for frying.
The locomotive involved in the derailment of the 4.33 a.m. train from Ruabon to Barmouth on the night of October 6, due to the bursting of the banks of the Shropshire Union Canal near Llangollen, was 2-6-0 No. 6315; the position into which the locomotive fell so completely defied all attempts to re-rail it that it was cut up on the spot.
This word in other languages
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.