cut down

present singular third person cuts down · participle present cutting down

1. intransitiveliterallyTo cut downward.
2. literallytransitiveTo adulterate a drug.

   We need to cut the cocaine down.

3. transitiveTo bring down by cutting.

   They want to cut down several trees to make room for the parking lot.

4. idiomatictransitiveTo insult, to belittle.
5. idiomaticTo reduce the amount of something.

   He wants to cut down on extra steps.

   2 more examples

   Please don't put the candy jar right next to my desk. I'm trying to cut down on sugar.

   By wholesale omission of connections and by the use of a microscopic scale of photographic reproduction which makes some of the most important tables difficult to read, the size has been cut down from last winter's 580 to 520 pages only.

   1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: London Midland Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 593

6. datedidiomaticTo slay, often in great numbers.

   I will cut you down where you stand.

7. intransitiveslangtransitiveTo shoot a gun; to shoot (someone or many people), usually to kill them.
8. slangtransitiveAfrican-American VernacularTo challenge (someone); to prove superiority to (someone).

comparative more cut down · superlative most cut down

1. Having been cut down; reduced in strength or power.