cut and dried
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Some of the universe is pretty much cut and dried.
While the Court of Appeal is ultimately responsible for establishing the tariff, this is far from being a cut - and - dried list of appropriate penalties.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “cut and dried” mean?
Settled.
Is “cut and dried” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.