cut it fine

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cut it fine (third-person singular simple present cuts it fine, present participle cutting it fine, simple past and past participle cut it fine)

1. (UK) To achieve something at the last possible moment, or with no margin for error.

   Synonym: cut it close

   • 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:

     ‘No, — I hadn’t time. I was due at the station, — I was cutting it pretty fine as it was.’

   • 2025 May 14, Elle Hunt, “My hours seem to slip away. How can I manage my time better?”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Working from home has allowed me more day-to-day ease – but my friend’s visit made me think I’ve perhaps become too comfortable with cutting things fine.

2. (UK) To be stingy.
   • 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:

     “O stop, stop,” cried the Mole in ecstacies: “This is too much!”
     “Do you really think so?” enquired the Rat seriously. “It’s only what I always take on these little excursions; and the other animals are always telling me that I’m a mean beast and cut it very fine!”

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cut,‎ it,‎ fine.

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