Translation guide
How to express 'cutting off' in Japanese, covering physical severing, stopping a flow, ending communication, and figurative disconnection.
To cut something off with a tool, separating it from a larger whole.
To cut off and drop; used for chopping off parts of something, like branches or a piece of food.
枝を切り落とした。
I cut off the branch.
To cut off or sever; more formal and technical, often used for cutting cables, limbs, or connections.
電源ケーブルを切断した。
I cut off the power cable.
To cut off and separate; emphasizes detachment, like cutting off a part from the main body.
その部分を本体から切り離してください。
Please cut off that part from the main body.
To cut off a supply of water, electricity, gas, or similar.
To stop; the most common verb for turning off or cutting off a flow. Use with the object marked by を.
水道を止めてください。
Please cut off the water.
ガスを止めた。
I cut off the gas.
To cut off or block; used for interrupting a supply or flow, often in formal or technical contexts.
電気の供給を遮断した。
They cut off the electricity supply.
To cut off a phone call, either deliberately or due to a bad connection.
To hang up; the standard verb for ending a phone call. Can also mean to cut off a conversation.
電話を切った。
I hung up (cut off the call).
彼は一方的に電話を切った。
He cut me off (hung up on me).
The call gets cut off (intransitive); used when the connection drops unexpectedly.
トンネルに入ったら通話が切れた。
The call got cut off when I entered the tunnel.
To cut someone off in conversation, interrupting their speech.
To interrupt someone's talk; literally 'block the story'. Natural for cutting off someone mid-sentence.
彼は私の話を遮った。
He cut me off (interrupted my story).
To cut off someone's words; similar to 話を遮る but more direct about interrupting speech.
彼女は私の言葉を遮って反論した。
She cut me off and argued back.
To cut off ties with someone, stop all communication.
To sever ties; a strong expression for cutting off a relationship completely.
彼とは縁を切った。
I cut off ties with him.
To cut off a relationship; slightly more formal than 縁を切る.
あの会社とは関係を断った。
We cut off relations with that company.
To become incommunicado; describes a state where someone cuts off all contact without explanation.
彼は突然音信不通になった。
He suddenly cut off all contact.
To cut off a route, escape, or access.
To block or cut off; used for roads, paths, or access.
大雪で道路が遮断された。
The road was cut off by heavy snow.
To block or obstruct; can be used for physically blocking a path or exit.
倒木が道を塞いでいる。
A fallen tree is cutting off the road.
切る (kiru) is the most general verb for cutting. 切断する (setsudan suru) is more formal and often implies a clean severing, used in technical contexts. 遮断する (shadan suru) specifically means to block or intercept a flow or path, not necessarily by cutting.
Avoid directly translating 'cut off' as 切りオフ or similar. Use the appropriate verb based on context. For example, 'cut off the water' is 水を止める, not 水を切る (which would mean physically cutting water).