cutter

noun

cut·​ter ˈkə-tər 

plural cutters

1

: one that cuts:

a

: one whose work is cutting or involves cutting

wood/glass cutters

b(1)

: an instrument, machine, machine part, or tool that cuts

(2)

: a device for vibrating a cutting stylus in disc recording

also : the stylus or its point

2

a

: a ship's boat for carrying stores or passengers

b

: a single-masted fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel

c

: a small armed vessel in government service

3

baseball : cut fastball

His previous three home runs had come on a fastball, a cutter and a slider.

—Billy Witz

4

: a light sleigh

5

: a person who cuts their own skin purposely (see cut entry 1 sense 1f) : a person who engages in cutting

The cast includes Jill, a middle-class runaway in love with the romance of risk; Maura, a "cutter" who engages in self-mutilation to thwart her over-controlling father …

—Cecelia Goodnow

Synonyms of cutter

• knife

Examples of cutter in a Sentence

a fabric cutter

Recent Examples on the Web

At one point, Slemmer broke away from Pike and tried to flee, but Pike's boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, grabbed her and held her down while Pike slashed her with the box cutter. — Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026

The 1,680-ton tunnel-boring machine unveiled Monday is nearly the length of two football fields and armed with cutters harder than diamonds. — ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026

Cable-cutters can also stream the fest live online through a variety of live TV streamers such as DirecTV (which offers a 5-day free trial) and Sling TV. — Isabelle Farina, Variety, 26 Sep. 2026

With a four-seamer, a cutter and a sinker, Schlittler throws some variation of a fastball roughly 90% of the time, making his rise all the more impressive and unique. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 24 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cutter

• box cutter
• cookie cutter
• cord cutter
• leaf-cutter
• milling cutter
• paper cutter
• price-cutter
• revenue cutter

Rhymes for cutter

• butter
• clutter
• flutter
• gutter
• mutter
• nutter
• putter
• rutter
• shutter
• sputter
• stutter
• utter

Kids Definition

cutter

noun

cut·​ter ˈkət-ər 

1

: one that cuts

a diamond cutter

a cookie cutter

2

a

: a ship's boat for carrying supplies or passengers

b

: a small sailing boat with one mast

c

: a small armed boat in government service

3

: a small sleigh