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Literary notes about CUT (AI summary)

The term "cut" plays a multifaceted role in literature, serving as both a literal and figurative device. It can evoke timeless permanence as in the phrase "cut in stone" ([1]), while also depicting physical severance or separation, such as characters being “cut off” from companions or society ([2], [3], [4]). At times, it dramatically conveys violence or sacrifice—for instance, the cutting of limbs or the severing of vital parts in tales of brutality ([5], [6], [7], [8]). In other instances, it introduces precision in description, whether in delineating the crisp edges of architecture ([9]) or framing intricate instructions in puzzles and practical tasks ([10], [11]). Additionally, "cut" is frequently employed in dialogue to add immediacy or stark emphasis to a character’s words ([12], [13], [14]), demonstrating its power to both shape narrative tone and imbue actions with symbolic meaning.
  1. Λαξευτός, ή, όν, (λᾶς, a stone, & ξέω, to cut, hew) cut in stone, hewn out of stone or rock, Lu. 23.53.
    — from A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament by William Greenfield
  2. His plight was desperate for him to do this, for it cut him off from Ruth.
    — from Martin Eden by Jack London
  3. I do not pretend to cut myself off from the whole world."
    — from A True Friend: A Novel by Adeline Sergeant
  4. And he said to me: Son of man: All these bones are the house of Israel: they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, and we are cut off.
    — from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete
  5. Then the huntsman did as the old woman told him, cut open the bird, took out the heart, and carried the cloak home with him.
    — from Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
  6. It fell out accordingly: she cut the throats of both.
    — from The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson by Sæmundur fróði
  7. When they came to Jormunrek, the king, in the night, while he was sleeping, they cut off both his hands and his feet.
    — from The Younger Edda; Also called Snorre's Edda, or The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
  8. Then he cut off all the dead girl's limbs, and threw them in the water, lighted a fire beneath the kettle, and boiled them.
    — from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm
  9. At the distance of a few miles the Pyramids rising above the palms, looked very clean-cut, very grand and imposing, and very soft and filmy, as well.
    — from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
  10. Cut a square into four pieces that will form two Greek crosses of the same size.
    — from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney
  11. Cut out of paper a Greek cross; then so fold it that with a single straight cut of the scissors the four pieces produced will form a square.
    — from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney
  12. Must your voice cut through it and smite me?
    — from The gardener by Rabindranath Tagore
  13. “And that unforeseen circumstance, of course, is myself,” Fyodor Pavlovitch cut in immediately.
    — from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  14. It may sound harsh, but my advice to you is: Cut your losses.
    — from The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

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