Cut down on means to reduce or limit something: to eat, drink, spend or do less of it. It usually describes a habit or spending that you don't give up completely; there is simply less of it.
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cut down on + noun/-ing; cut down to + amount
- I'm trying to cut down on coffee because I sleep badly.
- The company cut down on business trips and moved most meetings online.
- To save money for the trip, we cut down on eating out.
What changed
First versionMy doctor told me to cut off salt and eat more vegetables.
RevisionMy doctor told me to cut down on salt and eat more vegetables.
Cut off means to cut something away or to disconnect a supply: cut off the electricity. For salt that you should have less of, the phrase is cut down on. If the doctor had told you to stop eating salt altogether, cut out would fit.
To name the new limit, change on to to: I've cut down to one coffee a day. After on comes the thing there is less of; after to comes the amount you have reduced it to.
Your turn
I still have sweets now and then, but this year I've ___ sugar.
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cut down on — Sweets still appear now and then, so there is less sugar, but it hasn't disappeared: that is cut down on. Cut out means to remove something completely, which contradicts the first part: I still have sweets now and then.
Write about a habit you want to limit but not give up completely. Say what exactly you are cutting down on and why.
I'm cutting down on social media in the evenings so that I can read more and fall asleep earlier.
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