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CUT BACK
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Example:
curtail drinking in school
Synonyms:
curb; curtail; cut back; restrict
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "cut back" is one way to...):
circumscribe; confine to; limit (restrict or confine within limits)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cut back"):
abridge (lessen, diminish, or curtail)
immobilise; immobilize (cause to be unable to move)
ration (restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity, as during war)
control; restrict (place under restrictions; limit access to by law)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 2
Meaning:
Cut down on; make a reduction in
Example:
The employer wants to cut back health benefits
Synonyms:
bring down; cut; cut back; cut down; reduce; trim; trim back; trim down
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "cut back" is one way to...):
decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)
Verb group:
cut (have a reducing effect)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cut back"):
knock off; shave (cut the price of)
subtract (take off or away)
downsize ((of a company) reduce in size or number of employees)
inflate (increase the amount or availability of, creating a rise in value)
deflate (reduce or cut back the amount or availability of, creating a decline in value or prices)
detract; take away (take away a part from; diminish)
thin (make thin or thinner)
thin out (make sparse)
slash (cut drastically)
retrench (make a reduction, as in one's workforce)
quench (reduce the degree of (luminescence or phosphorescence) in (excited molecules or a material) by adding a suitable substance)
spill (reduce the pressure of wind on (a sail))
shorten (make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
cutback (a reduction in quantity or rate)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of
Example:
dress the plants in the garden
Synonyms:
clip; crop; cut back; dress; lop; prune; snip; trim
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "cut back" is one way to...):
thin out (make sparse)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "cut back"):
shear (cut with shears)
poll; pollard (convert into a pollard)
disbud (thin out buds to improve the quality of the remaining flowers)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sentence example:
They cut back the trees
Sense 4
Meaning:
Example:
the film cut back to an earlier event in the story
Synonyms:
cut back; flash back
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "cut back" is one way to...):
return (go or come back to place, condition, or activity where one has been before)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP