Definition

1. Verb:
   • To remove something by cutting it, often in a quick or decisive manner.
   • To cut something off from a larger part, especially something that is unnecessary, dead, or protruding.

Usage

This verb is transitive and requires a direct object (the thing being cut). It often implies a certain finality or neatness in the removal. It is commonly used in contexts like gardening, surgery, or editing.

Examples

• Verb:
  • The gardener lopped off the damaged limbs from the tree.
  • The editor lopped off the last two paragraphs to meet the word count.
  • In a drastic budget cut, the company lopped off its entire research division.

Advanced Usage

• "to lop off a head/limb": Used in historical or dramatic contexts to describe beheading or amputation.
  • The executioner's axe lopped off the prisoner's head.
• "to lop off a sum/amount": Used figuratively to describe reducing a number, price, or amount significantly.
  • He lopped off $5,000 from the asking price of the car.

Variants and Related Words

• Lop (verb): The base form, meaning to cut off branches or twigs from a tree or bush.
  • He spent the afternoon lopping the apple tree.
• Lopper (noun): A tool used for cutting branches.
  • She used the loppers to trim the hedge.

Synonyms

• Cut off: The most general synonym.
• Sever: To cut through something completely, often used for connections or body parts.
• Prune: To trim (a tree or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches, more specific to gardening.
• Amputate: To cut off (a limb) by surgical operation.
• Truncate: To shorten by cutting off the top or end, often used for abstract things like text or lists.

Phrasal Verbs

(This word is itself a phrasal verb. Common related phrasal verbs with 'cut' share similar meanings.) - Cut off: To remove by cutting; to interrupt or disconnect. - They cut off the power to the building.

Related Idioms

• Lop and top: To prune a tree heavily, cutting off both the side branches and the top. (This is a specific gardening term).
  • The old willow needed a severe lop and top to restore its shape.

Verb

1. remove by or as if by cutting
   • cut off the ear
   • lop off the dead branch