cut out — remove something by cutting
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
To remove a part of something by cutting it away, often with scissors or a knife.
Say it like a native
Textbook Please excise the picture from the magazine using scissors.
Native Just cut the picture out of the magazine.
'Cut out' is the plain verb; 'excise' is surgical/technical and odd for craft.
Pattern: cut out + noun
In use
- She cut out a picture from the magazine for her project.study
- In art class, we were asked to cut out different shapes from colored paper to make a collage.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ Cut out it carefully.
✓ Cut it out carefully.
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle: 'cut it out'.
Common collocations
cut out + shape/image— a picture, a shape, the coupon, a circle
Don't confuse it
'Cut out' (remove by cutting) is different from 'cut off', which usually means to remove the whole end or section.
Related
- cut out (stop doing or eating something (usually for health reasons)) — Another meaning of 'cut out' is 'stop doing or eating something (usually for health reasons)'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.