cut short

To use scissors or another sharp tool to make something much shorter.

• He cuts his hair short.
• We cut the grass short yesterday.
• Should I cut these stems short?

How to use it: cut something short (She cuts her nails short for work.)

Similar words: trim, crop

Common phrases: cut hair short, cut grass short

To end something before it was supposed to finish.

• Rain cut short our picnic.
• She cut her visit short.
• Was the match cut short by the storm?

How to use it: cut something short (We cut our holiday short because of the storm.)

Similar words: curtail, shorten

Opposites: extend, prolong

Common phrases: cut short something, cut something short

To stop someone before they finish speaking.

• Please do not cut me short.
• He cut her short with a sharp question.
• The manager cut us short before we finished explaining.

How to use it: cut someone short (The chair cut me short before I could explain.)

Similar words: interrupt, cut off

Common phrases: cut someone short, cut short someone

Made shorter, or ended before the expected time.

• With her hair cut short, she looked younger.
• The visit, cut short by illness, lasted only two days.
• His career, cut short by injury, had begun well.

Similar words: shortened, curtailed

Common phrases: hair cut short, life cut short