cut corners
Do something in the easiest or least expensive way; also, act illegally. For example, Cutting corners in production led to a definite loss in product quality, or If the accountant cuts corners the auditors are sure to find out. This term alludes to rounding a corner as closely as possible in order to shorten the distance traversed and/or save time. [Late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use cut corners in a sentence
For those of us who proudly trade sex for money, Sheen's celebrity status would not be a reason to cut corners.
And when you sell stuff, you often cut corners with the truth.
That is the way it nearly always happens with people who try to cut corners.
Fifty-Two Story Talks To Boys And Girls | Howard J. ChidleyAnd the wheels that cut corners soon get to looking shabby from lack of paint.
Fifty-Two Story Talks To Boys And Girls | Howard J. ChidleyIt's as dry as a fossil bone there so his skinflint company cut corners on the stainless steel.
The Velvet Glove | Harry Harrison
It was at this point that he began to cut corners with disastrous results.
The Day's Work, Volume 1 | Rudyard KiplingThat penny-pinching Skinner wants me to cut corners and get myself into trouble so he can fire me.
Cappy Ricks | Peter B. Kyne
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