cut

Cut is a term with many meanings across fields, generally involving separation, reduction, or division. It can be a noun or a verb.

A cut refers to a break in the skin or surface caused by a sharp object; can range from minor to deep; treatment includes cleaning, stopping bleeding, possible stitches; risk of infection; distinctions: laceration vs incision (deliberate surgical cut).

Haircut and garment cut: The act of trimming hair; in fashion, the "cut" describes the shape, style, or fit of a garment.

Budget cuts, pay cuts: reductions in funding or compensation.

In film and video editing, a cut is a transition between shots; "director's cut" is a version; in music/recording, a "cut" or "track" is one song on an album.

In card games, to cut the deck is to split the deck to randomize; In computing, Unix "cut" extracts fields from text.

In mathematics, a cut is a partition of a set; in graph theory, a cut is a set of edges whose removal separates a graph; a minimum cut relates to network flow.