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cut and run

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cut and run

Sl. to run away quickly. (Alludes to cutting loose a ship's or boat's anchor and sailing away in a hurry.) Wilbur decided to cut and run when he heard the police sirens. As soon as I finish what I am doing here, I'm going to cut and run. I've got to get home by six o'clock.

See also: and, cut, run

cut and run

to avoid a difficult situation by leaving suddenly He had learned as a boy that there is a time to stay and fight and a time to cut and run.

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cut and run

to avoid a difficult situation by leaving suddenly When his business started to fail, he decided to cut and run, rather than face financial ruin.

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cut and run

Clear out, escape, desert, as in He wished he could just cut and run. This term originally (about 1700) meant to cut a vessel's anchor cable and make sail at once. By the mid-1800s it was being used figuratively. Charles Dickens had it in Great Expectations (1861): "I'd give a shilling if they had cut and run." Also see cut out, def. 7.

See also: and, cut, run

cut and run

in. to stop what one is doing and flee. The cops were coming, so we cut and run.

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cut and run

To leave an unsettled situation or abandon a risky enterprise.

See also: and, cut, run