cut it fine

present singular third person cuts it fine · participle present cutting it fine

1. UKTo achieve something at the last possible moment, or with no margin for error.

   ‘No, — I hadn’t time. I was due at the station, — I was cutting it pretty fine as it was.’

   1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle

   1 more example

   Working from home has allowed me more day-to-day ease – but my friend’s visit made me think I’ve perhaps become too comfortable with cutting things fine.

   2025 May 14, Elle Hunt, “My hours seem to slip away. How can I manage my time better?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: cut it close

2. UKTo be stingy.

   “O stop, stop,” cried the Mole in ecstacies: “This is too much!” “Do you really think so?” enquired the Rat seriously. “It’s only what I always take on these little excursions; and the other animals are always telling me that I’m a mean beast and cut it very fine!”

   1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut, it, fine.