Dictionary

cut the mustard en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /kʌt ðə ˈmʌstəd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• /kʌt ðə ˈmʌstəɹd/ (General-American)

Etymology

From cut (“to exhibit (a quality)”) + the + mustard (“(originally US slang) something adding spice or zest to a situation; something setting the standard”).

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough; to suffice.
   • By nature and doctrines I am addicted to the habit of discovering choice places wherein to feed. So I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard. I found a restaurant tent just opened up by an outfit that had drifted in on the tail of the boom. 1907, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “Cupid à la Carte”, in Heart of the West, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company for Review of Reviews Co., →OCLC, page 163:
   • Give me the bigger hammer. This little one just doesn’t cut the mustard.
   • [I]f a man gets a loan and over a period of years he has demonstrated that he cannot cut the mustard, how is he going to demonstrate it in a period of 12 months? 1940 March 21, Fred Cummings, committee member, “Statement of Albert S. Goss [Former Land Bank Commissioner, Farm Credit Administration, Washington, D.C.]—Resumed”, in Farm Credit Legislation: Hearing before the Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Seventy-sixth Congress, Third Session on H.R. 8748 […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 194:

Forms

Synonyms

be up to par · be up to snuff · measure up · make the grade · hack it · make the cut · be up to scratch · cut it · pass muster

Translations (16)

hu megjárja (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · sv duga (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · fi riittää (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · ar يفي بالغرض (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · de es bringen (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · fr faire le poids (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · pl wystarczyć (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · ru потянуть (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · tr kesmek (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · pl wystarczać (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · eo tranĉi la mustardon (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · sv räcka till (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · fi kelvata (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · hu tűrhető (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · hu elég jó (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice) · cy bod yn ddigon da (to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough — see also suffice)