cut up

What does "cut up" mean?

1. To cut something into smaller pieces
2. To upset or distress someone greatly
3. To behave in a silly or playful way (informal)
4. To criticize severely

Examples

• Can you cut up the vegetables for the salad?
• She was really cut up about losing her job.
• The kids were cutting up and making everyone laugh.
• The critics really cut up his performance.
• Cut up the chicken before adding it to the soup.

How to use it

'Cut up' for distress is primarily British/Canadian. 'Cutting up' for misbehaving is North American slang. Context determines which meaning applies.

Word order

Object can go between: 'cut the paper up' or after: 'cut up the paper'. For emotions: 'be cut up about/over'.

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 back

  To reduce spending, production, or consumption

• cut in

  To interrupt someone who is speaking

• cut down on

  To reduce the amount or frequency of something