cut through

See also: cut-through

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

cut through (third-person singular simple present cuts through, present participle cutting through, simple past and past participle cut through)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut,‎ through.
2. (idiomatic) To dispense with or quickly deal with (an issue that is seen as an obstruction or waste of time).

   Can we cut through the bureaucracy and make a decision on the spot?

3. To take a shortcut through.

   Synonym: cut across

   I usually cut through the woods to get home, but last night it was too dark.

4. (figurative) To reach (an audience etc.).
   • 2021 December 27, Matthew Taylor, quoting Asad Rehman, “Asad Rehman on climate justice: ‘Now we are seeing these arguments cut through’”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     […] making the case that you cannot understand the climate crisis without understanding that there is an arch from slavery to colonialism and imperialism to the climate crisis … Now we are seeing those arguments cut through.

See also

• Gordian knot

Further reading

• “cut through”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “cut through” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “cut through” (US) / “cut through” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “cut through sth”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.