A-Z Database
Cut and run was originally a nautical expression from the 18th century meaning to cut the anchor rope, without waiting to haul the anchor in, and make...
A spirited contest with rapid changes of advantage, cut and thrust is one of those fencing terms that have made their way into the language of debate...
To do so something in the easiest, fastest, or cheapest way, but not necessarily in the best way, dates from the late 19th century. It derives from th...
To cut someone as in to ignore them totally dates from the 17th century. The intensification to cut someone dead is from the early 19th century.
As in cope, manage, rise to the occasion or succeed is American from the late 19th/early 20th century.
see Cuts no ice
Describes someone’s general appearance or demeanour with reference to the triangular sail between the foremast and the prow of a ship by which sailors...
A warning against reckless action that results in just as much, if not more, harm to oneself. It is not known whether a real nose was ever cut off in...
Very sensible expression from tailoring that now means to act in accordance with one’s resources or to live within one’s means. It appears in John Hey...
see Cut dead
To give someone room or freedom to move or act, an American expression that dates from the 1970s and despite the allusion to paying out slack from a r...
Solve or remove a problem by simple, forceful action dates from the 1500s and derives from ancient Greek legend of Gordius, King of Phrygia who secure...
Withdraw support, expose or destroy their position, dates from the early 19th century.
To cut the mustard is American in origin and means to succeed or conform to the required standard, but is most often used in the negative form can’t c...
To cut to pieces means to rout or defeat with great slaughter and dates in this sense from the late 17th century, from the obvious allusion of cutting...