English

Larger-than-life cutouts (sense 2.1) of celebrities in front of the Rose Theatre Brampton in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, in 2013]]

A cut-out (sense 1) of a dinosaur in black plywood made using a laser cutter

A cut-out (sense 5) in overhead electric power distribution wires. If an electrical fault occurs, the high current melts the fusible metal rod (left) in the cut-out, disconnecting the power.

Noun

cut-out ‎(plural cut-outs)

1. A hole or space produced when something is removed by cutting. Also attributive.

   a dress with cut-out sides‎

2. A piece cut out of something
   1. A free-standing, rigid print (usually life-sized), often displayed for promotional purposes; a standee.
      • 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “The Simpsons (Classic): ‘Mr. Plow’ [season 4, episode 9; originally aired November 19, 1992]”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 7 April 2016:

        The best of friends become the worst of enemies when Barney makes a hilarious attack ad where he viciously pummels a cardboard cut-out of Homer before special guest star Linda Ronstadt joins the fun to both continue the attack on the helpless Homer stand-in and croon a slanderously accurate, insanely catchy jingle about how "Mr. Plow is a loser/And I think he is a boozer."

3. A trusted middleman or intermediary, especially in espionage.
4. (computing) Clip art.
5. (electronics) Any of several devices that halts the flow of a current, especially an electric current; a trip-switch or trip.
6. (telegraphy) A switch that changes the current from one circuit to another, or for shortening a circuit.
7. (US) A railway cutting.
8. (US, agriculture) The separation of a group of cattle from a herd; the place where they are collected.

Translations

References

• J[ohn] A. Simpson and E[dward] S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0-19-861186-8.