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.
- 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 - His plight was desperate for him to do this, for it cut him off from Ruth.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London - I do not pretend to cut myself off from the whole world."
— from A True Friend: A Novel by Adeline Sergeant - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Cut a square into four pieces that will form two Greek crosses of the same size.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - 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 - Must your voice cut through it and smite me?
— from The gardener by Rabindranath Tagore - “And that unforeseen circumstance, of course, is myself,” Fyodor Pavlovitch cut in immediately.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - It may sound harsh, but my advice to you is: Cut your losses.
— from The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie