cut back

What does "cut back" mean?

1. To reduce spending, production, or consumption
2. To prune plants
3. To reduce the size or scope of something

Examples

• We need to cut back on unnecessary expenses.
• The company is cutting back on staff.
• Cut back the roses in early spring.
• I've cut back to working four days a week.
• Due to the recession, many businesses are cutting back.

How to use it

'Cutbacks' (noun) refers to reductions, especially in business spending or employment. Similar to 'cut down' but often implies a more deliberate policy of reduction.

Word order

Often 'cut back on' + noun. For plants: separable ('cut the bushes back'). For reducing: can be intransitive ('We're cutting back').

Similar expressions

Opposites

Related phrasal verbs

• cut off

  To remove something by cutting

• cut out

  To remove something by cutting

• cut down

  To reduce the amount or quantity of something

• cut in

  To interrupt someone who is speaking

• cut up

  To cut something into smaller pieces

• cut down on

  To reduce the amount or frequency of something