cut down

verb

cut down; cutting down; cuts down

transitive verb

1

a

: to strike down and kill or incapacitate

b

: knock down

2

a

: to remodel by removing extras or unwanted furnishings and fittings

b

: to remake in a smaller size

intransitive verb

: to reduce or curtail volume or activity

cut down on smoking

Phrases

cut down to size

: to reduce from an inflated or exaggerated importance to true or suitable stature

Examples of cut down in a Sentence

we need to cut down that dying tree

Recent Examples on the Web

At the Ocala National Forest, for example, visitors can find and cut down a sand pine tree, which is smaller than a typical Christmas tree. —Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 21 Nov. 2023

Screenshot by Emma Roth / The Verge In addition to cleaning up Apple’s search results, Insider points out that Amazon cuts down on the ads for Apple’s product pages as well. —Emma Roth, The Verge, 10 Nov. 2023

As a traveler who's always trying to cut down on my packing, a two-for-one headphones-ear muffs combo sounds like a pretty great deal to me. —Alexandra Domrongchai, Travel + Leisure, 7 Nov. 2023

The banners and awnings along the walls are historically accurate, but also soak up sound, and the backs of the seats are perforated to cut down on noise. —Pat Saperstein, Variety, 1 Nov. 2023

The 21-year-old graduated from the University of South Carolina in May 2023, a year earlier than the rest of her class, in an effort to cut down the cost of tuition. —Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2023

These fish live along coastal Connecticut and Rhode Island, which cuts down on shipping costs and reduces the amount of fossil fuels used to bring fish from the water to the dinner plate. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 26 Oct. 2023

The challenges of motherhood also cut down the boundlessly confident emcee, who gave birth to her first child in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. —Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2023

When an entire tree is cut down, the thieves typically cut it up and load the pieces into a pickup truck, selling the wood to lumber yards or firewood vendors and taking the olives to an oil mill. —Derek Gatopoulos, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Nov. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1571, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Kids Definition

cut down

verb

1

: to knock down and kill or wound

2

: to make over in a smaller size

3

: to reduce something in amount

cut down on energy use

Medical Definition

cutdown

noun

cut·​down ˈkət-ˌdau̇n 

: incision of a superficial blood vessel (as a vein) to facilitate insertion of a catheter (as for administration of fluids)