cut it

1. Manage, tolerate, as in I don't know how he can cut it . [ Slang ; c. 1900]

2. Be effective, prove satisfactory, as in She's getting old and can no longer cut it . [Late 1900s] For a synonym see cut the mustard . Also see the subsequent entries beginning with cut it .

3. Also, cut that . Stop, as in I won't stand for that—cut it! or If you don't cut that, I'll tell . [ Slang ; first half of 1800s] Also see cut it out .

Example Sentences

But there are times when off-the-rack arrangements just won’t cut it.

From Los Angeles Times

This was a special dinner party with dear friends, and a supermarket bouquet wasn’t going to cut it.

From Los Angeles Times

After coming to power in May 2023, President Bola Tinubu said the subsidy was unsustainable and suddenly cut it - pump prices immediately tripled.

From BBC

Coulier played the basement-dwelling Uncle Joey, a struggling stand-up comedian who used the catchphrase “Cut it out” and a puppet to help teach the Tanner girls life lessons.

From Los Angeles Times

“It was another five months before we got back onto that street. And, of course, there are those who were saying, ‘Just cut it, you don’t need it.’

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bear
• endure
• exist
• get through
• handle
• keep
• last
• live
• recover
• remain
• ride out
• subsist
• suffer
• sustain
• weather
• withstand