clear-cut

See also: clearcut and clear cut

English

Adjective

clear-cut (comparative more clear-cut, superlative most clear-cut)

1. Alternative spelling of clear cut
   • 1943 July and August, “Red Light for Danger”, in Railway Magazine, page 189:

     One of the questions which seem to recur more often that most is the reason for selection of the red light as a danger signal on railways. As in so many cases there is no clear-cut answer.

   • 1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point‎^[1], Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 104:

     I had no doubt as to how the vast majority of voters would respond. I was convinced that given such a clear-cut choice, the American people would elect to move forward with a program of social progress.

   • 1996, James Lambert, The Macquarie Book of Slang, Sydney: Macquarie Library, page v:

     The differences between slang, colloquialism and jargon are not clear-cut.

   • 2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France‎^[2]:

     France were supposedly a team in pieces, beaten by Tonga just a week ago and with coach Marc Lievremont publicly berating his players, but so clear-cut was their victory that much of the atmosphere had been sucked from the contest long before the end.

   • 2021 December 29, Paul Stephen, “Rail's accident investigators”, in RAIL, number 947, pages 30–31:

     While in the most serious cases mounting an investigation is usually mandatory, there are other occasions where it is less clear-cut or when it is concluded that an investigation would not fulfil RAIB's objectives to improve safety or prevent future accidents.

Further reading

• “clear-cut”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “clear-cut”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.