cord-cutting

noun

cord-cut·​ting ˈkȯrd-ˌkə-tiŋ 

variants or less commonly cord cutting

: the act or process of canceling a subscription to cable television or to a landline telephone service

As cable news begins to feel the squeeze from cord-cutting, arch-rivals Fox News and CNN are stepping up efforts to adapt to the trend that poses a long-term threat to their businesses.

—Stephen Battaglio

Although broadband rates don't appear to be rising substantially as a whole, there's a chance that cord cutting could someday lead providers to increase monthly Internet bills to mitigate the loss of cable customers, according to a MoffettNathanson report.

—Makeda Easter

The majority of Americans … now rely solely on wireless telephones. That watershed cord-cutting moment was reached in the last half of 2016, according to the federal government.

—Jan Cottingham

Examples of cord-cutting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And Tucker Carlson has gained attention with his own programming distributed via social and digital media, Their audiences can be smaller and more disparate than the ones that come to mainstream news outlets, but in an era of cord-cutting, their niche power is not to be dismissed. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025

While carriage disputes are far from uncommon, especially as the economics of pay-TV become increasingly pressured in an era of cord-cutting, YouTube TV as a distributor cuts a unique profile. —Dade Hayes, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2025

Changing web user habits have also proved helpful: The acceleration of cord-cutting and the growth of news on YouTube has also exposed new audiences to anti-establishment outlets like Zeteo and Breaking Points. —Max Tani, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2025

Wasn’t cord-cutting supposed to be cheaper? —Doug Melville, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1999, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cord-cutting

• abutting
• crosscutting
• rebutting
• butting
• cutting
• gutting
• jutting
• meting
• putting
• rutting
• shutting
• smiting