cutting

«cutting» in Mova's school dictionary: using a knife, scissors or other sharp tool to divide or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb, -ing form of cut (cut, cuts, cut, cutting); noun (a cutting, cuttings); adjective (cutting)

meaning for a pupil

1) As part of the verb, cutting means using a knife, scissors or other sharp tool to divide or open something now. tree →

2) A cutting is a small piece cut from a plant so that it grows into a new plant. tree →

3) A cutting (UK) is a piece cut out of a newspaper. tree →

4) Cutting (adjective) describes words that are unkind and hurt: «a cutting remark», or wind that is very cold. tree →

sense in the lessons

In art and design, cutting with scissors is a skill: cut away from your body and pass scissors handle first. In science, plant cuttings show how some plants grow new roots. In cooking, use a chopping board when cutting. Phrases: «cutting edge» (the newest technology), «cutting corners» (doing something badly to save time), «cutting in» (pushing into a line).

examples

• I am cutting out shapes for the poster. tree →
• Use a board when cutting vegetables. tree →
• Always cut away from your hand. tree →
• We grew a new plant from a cutting. tree →
• Grandma keeps newspaper cuttings in a box. tree →
• A cutting wind blew off the sea. tree →
• Stop cutting in the queue! tree →
• That was a cutting thing to say. tree →
• “Barbecue, Flint—what house?” came the cutting retort. tree →

note

«Cut» does not change in the past: cut, cut — the t doubles in «cutting». In maths, cutting a shape into equal parts makes fractions: a cake cut into 4 equal parts gives quarters.

In the corpora

• Fabric scissors are kept only for cloth, because cutting paper or card makes the blades blunt.
• Animals can get their heads or beaks caught in plastic drink rings, so cutting the rings before throwing them away helps.
• A grown-up set has 8 incisors for cutting, 4 canines for gripping, 8 premolars and 12 molars for grinding.
• Cutting toenails straight across helps stop ingrown toenails, where the edge grows into the skin and can get sore and infected.
• Folding, bending and cutting change only shape; they are physical changes, not chemical ones.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «cutting» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.