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Drain vs Cut - What's the difference?

drain | cut |

In intransitive terms the difference between drain and cut

is that drain is to flow gradually while cut is to change direction suddenly.

In transitive terms the difference between drain and cut

is that drain is to draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust while cut is to stop or disengage.

As an adjective cut is

having been cut.

drain

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist)
  • , author=Frank Fish, George Lauder , title= Not Just Going with the Flow , passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain , as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
  • An access point or conduit for rainwater that drains directly downstream in a (drainage) basin without going through sewers or water treatment in order to prevent or belay floods.
  • Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
  • (label) An act of urination.
  • (label) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
  • Derived terms

    * circle the drain * down the drain * drain fly

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To lose liquid.
  • The clogged sink drained slowly.
  • To flow gradually.
  • The water of low ground drains off.
  • (ergative) To cause liquid to flow out of.
  • Please drain the sink. It's full of dirty water.
  • (ergative) To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
  • They had to drain the swampy land before the parking lot could be built.
  • To deplete of energy or resources.
  • The stress of this job is really draining me.
  • To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.
  • * Motley
  • But it was not alone that he drained their treasure and hampered their industry.
  • (obsolete) To filter.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Salt water, drained through twenty vessels of earth, hath become fresh.
  • (pinball) To fall off the bottom of the playfield.
  • * 1990 , Steven A. Schwartz, Compute's Nintendo Secrets
  • When a ball finally drains , it's gulped down by a giant gator beneath the set of flippers.

    Derived terms

    * drainage * drain the lizard (vulgar)

    Anagrams

    *

    cut

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (participial adjective) Having been cut .
  • Reduced.
  • The pitcher threw a cut fastball that was slower than his usual pitch.
    Cut brandy is a liquor made of brandy and hard grain liquor.
  • (of a gem) Carved into a shape; not raw.
  • (rfc-sense) (cricket, of a shot) Played with a horizontal bat to hit the ball backward of point.
  • (bodybuilding) Having muscular definition in which individual groups of muscle fibers stand out among larger muscles.
  • * 1988', Steve Holman, "Christian Conquers Columbus", '''' ' 47 (6): 28-34.
  • Or how 'bout Shane DiMora? Could he possibly get rip-roaring cut this time around?
  • * 2010', Bill Geiger, "6-pack Abs in 9 Weeks", ''Reps!'' ' 17 :106
  • That's the premise of the overload principle, and it must be applied, even to ab training, if you're going to develop a cut , ripped midsection.
  • (informal) Circumcised.
  • (Australia, NZ, slang) Emotionally hurt.
  • Eliminated from consideration during a recruitment drive.
  • Removed from a team roster.
  • (NZ) Intoxicated as a result of drugs or alcohol.
  • Synonyms

    * snithe

    Derived terms

    * cut and dried * mad as a cut snake,

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An opening resulting from cutting.
  • Look at this cut on my finger!
  • The act of cutting.
  • He made a fine cut with his sword.
  • The result of cutting.
  • a smooth or clear cut
  • A notch, passage, or channel made by cutting or digging; a furrow; a groove.
  • a cut for a railroad
  • * Knolles
  • This great cut or ditch Secostris purposed to have made a great deal wider and deeper.
  • A share or portion.
  • The lawyer took a cut of the profits.
  • (cricket) A batsman's shot played with a swinging motion of the bat, to hit the ball backward of point.
  • (cricket) Sideways movement of the ball through the air caused by a fast bowler imparting spin to the ball.
  • The act or right of dividing a deck of playing cards.
  • The player next to the dealer makes a cut by placing the bottom half on top.
  • The manner or style a garment etc. is fashioned in.
  • I like the cut of that suit.
  • * Shakespeare
  • with eyes severe and beard of formal cut
  • A slab, especially of meat.
  • That’s our finest cut of meat.
  • (fencing) An attack made with a chopping motion of the blade, landing with its edge or point.
  • A deliberate snub, typically a refusal to return a bow or other acknowledgement of acquaintance.
  • * Washington Irving
  • Rip called him by name, but the cur snarled, snapped his teeth, and passed on. This was an unkind cut indeed.
  • A definable part, such as an individual song, of a recording, particularly of commercial records, audio tapes, CDs, etc.
  • The drummer on the last cut of their CD is not identified.
  • (archaeology) A truncation, a context that represents a moment in time when other archaeological deposits were removed for the creation of some feature such as a ditch or pit.
  • A haircut.
  • (graph theory) the partition of a graph’s vertices into two subgroups
  • A string of railway cars coupled together.
  • An engraved block or plate; the impression from such an engraving.
  • a book illustrated with fine cuts
  • (obsolete) A common workhorse; a gelding.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
  • He'll buy me a cut , forth for to ride.
  • (slang, dated) The failure of a college officer or student to be present at any appointed exercise.
  • A skein of yarn.
  • (Wright)

    Derived terms

    * a cut above * a cut below * boot cut * bowl cut * brush cut * budget cut * crew cut * cut of one's jib * cut-set * direct cut * director's cut * final cut/make the final cut * fine cut * French cut * jump cut/jump-cut * line cut * make the cut * maximum cut * minimum cut * pay cut * power cut * price cut * princess cut * rose cut * shaggy cut * shortcut * s-t cut * tax cut *

    Verb

  • To incise, to cut into the surface of something.
  • #To perform an incision on, for example with a knife.
  • #*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • #*:You must cut this flesh from off his breast.
  • #To divide with a knife, scissors, or another sharp instrument.
  • #:
  • #*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • #*:Before the whistling winds the vessels fly, / With rapid swiftness cut the liquid way.
  • #To form or shape by cutting.
  • #:
  • #*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • #*:Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, / Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster?
  • #*(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • #*:loopholes cut through thickest shade
  • #To wound with a knife.
  • #*1990 , (Stephen Dobyns), The house on Alexandrine
  • #*:We don't want your money no more. We just going to cut you.
  • #To deliver a stroke with a whip or like instrument to.
  • #*
  • #*:“My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”
  • #To wound or hurt deeply the sensibilities of; to pierce.
  • #:
  • #*(Joseph Addison) (1672–1719)
  • #*:The man was cut to the heart.
  • #To castrate or geld.
  • #:
  • #To interfere, as a horse; to strike one foot against the opposite foot or ankle in using the legs.
  • (lb) To admit of incision or severance; to yield to a cutting instrument.
  • *1858 , , (The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table)'', ''The Deacon's Masterpiece , in Chapter XI:
  • *:The panels of white-wood that cuts like cheese, / But lasts like iron for things like these;
  • To separate, remove, reject or reduce.
  • #To separate from prior association; to remove a portion of a recording during editing.
  • #:
  • #To reduce, especially intentionally.
  • #:
  • #*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-17, author=George Monbiot, authorlink=George Monbiot
  • , volume=188, issue=23, page=19, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Money just makes the rich suffer , passage=In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. Essential public services are cut so that the rich may pay less tax.
  • #To absent oneself from (a class, an appointment, etc.).
  • #:
  • #* (1789-1842)
  • #*:An English tradesman is always solicitous to cut the shop whenever he can do so with impunity.
  • #To ignore as a social snub.
  • #:
  • To cease recording activities.
  • :
  • To remove and place in memory for later use.
  • :
  • (lb) To enter a queue in the wrong place.
  • :
  • (lb) To intersect or cross in such a way as to divide in half or nearly so.
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=January 18, author=Daniel Taylor, work=Guardian Online
  • , title= Manchester City 4 Leicester City 2 , passage=Leicester's response was swift although the referee, Mark Halsey, was generous in the extreme when he awarded the penalty from which Paul Gallagher made it 1-1. Neither Joleon Lescott nor Vieira appeared to make any contact with Dyer as he cut between them.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author= John Vidal
  • , volume=189, issue=10, page=8, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas , passage=Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.}}
  • To make the ball spin sideways by running one's fingers down the side of the ball while bowling it. (rfex)
  • (lb) To change direction suddenly.
  • :
  • To divide a pack of playing cards into two.
  • :
  • To write.
  • :
  • To dilute a liquid, usually alcohol.
  • :
  • (lb) To exhibit (a quality).
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=January 25, author=Paul Fletcher, work=BBC
  • , title= Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (agg. 3-1) , passage=Arsenal were starting to work up a head of steam and Tractor Boys boss Paul Jewell cut an increasingly frustrated figure on the touchline.}}
  • (lb) To stop or disengage.
  • :
  • Synonyms

    * See

    Troponyms

    * chop, hack, slice, trim

    Derived terms

    * becut * cut a caper * cut a deal * cut a figure * cut a rug / cut the rug * cut a swathe * cut a wide swathe * cut and paste * cut and run * cut both ways * cut capers * cut corners * cut down * cut for someone's size * cut from the same cloth * cut in * cut in line * cut it * cut it close * cut it fine * cut it out * cut like a knife * cut loose * cut off * cut one loose * cut one's coat according to one's cloth * cut one's losses * cut one's teeth * cut oneself * cut out * cut red tape * cut short * cut someone some slack/cut somebody some slack * cut the cheese * cut the mustard * cut the muster * cut the rug * cut to black * cut to the chase * cut to the quick * cut up * cut wind * cutthroat * cutting edge * cutting remark * fish or cut bait * forcut * forecut * fussy cut * have one's work cut out for one * incut * measure twice cut once / measure twice and cut once * offcut * outcut * overcut * undercut

    See also

    * copy * paste

    Statistics

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