cut someone dead
cut (one) dead
To totally ignore someone, usually out of anger or displeasure. I was hoping to reconcile with Mandy today, but when I approached, she just cut me dead.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
cut someone dead
Pretend not to see or recognize someone, as in "Any fellow was to be cut dead by the entire school" (Benjamin Disraeli, Vivien Grey, 1826). This idiom, in the first half of the 1600s, began as to cut one; in the early 1800s dead was added for greater emphasis.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
cut someone dead
BRITISHIf you cut someone dead, you deliberately ignore them or refuse to speak to them. I belonged to the same golf club as my father-in-law and if I ever saw him at the clubhouse he'd cut me dead. There were times when she would cut you dead.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
cut someone dead
completely ignore someone.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017