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

see also:

cut down to size

Examples of cut down in a Sentence

we need to cut down that dying tree

Recent Examples on the Web

That鈥檚 a jolt to the senators in both parties working on a housing reform bill that鈥檚 now on the floor, which also includes a stab at the president鈥檚 priority of cutting down institutional investors buying up single-family homes. —semafor.com, 9 Mar. 2026

Effective skin-care routines can cut down time, effort, and money. —Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 7 Mar. 2026

That would be Koons’s Split-Rocker, a massive kid’s rocking horse cut down the middle and merged with a dinosaur’s head then covered in flowers. —Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 6 Mar. 2026

The mining operations cut down forests and remove soil. —Antonio MacHado Allison, The Conversation, 6 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Rhymes for cut down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown

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)