A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

cut and run • hit and run
cut and run —leave without warning; make a quick or sud-
den escape: To cut and run, to walk out, as Elspeth had, was
quite unthinkable to Isabel: it was not in the pattern of civi-
lized behavior.
hit and run —(attrib.) 
1
. (of a driver) failing to stop after
causing an accident: He will suffer no after-effects from in-
juries sustained when knocked down by a hit-and-run mo-
torist. 2. (of methods in guerilla warfare, etc.) using swift action
followed by an immediate withdrawal: Some of them were in-
dulging in violence and arson, adopting “hit and run” tactics.
cut back on something • cut back to something
cut back on something —lower the rate of smth.; reduce
smth.: The company cut back on production during the war.
Note: 
The expression does not fully correlate in meaning with
the phrase cut back something—
1
. make smth. shorter by cut-
ting: He decided to cut the plants back, in order to improve
their growth later in the season. 2. = cut back on something:
The industry has been faced with having to cut back produc-
tion because of rising costs.
cut back to something—(in films) return in time to smth.:
Laurie is staring into oblivion as the film cuts back to the ear-
lier scene.
cut back one’s losses • cut one’s losses
cut back one’s losses —diminish costs, expenditures, etc.: The
company said the new strategy was designed to help it cut
back its losses.
cut one’s losses —
1
. = cut back one’s losses: Many semiconductor
firms which had overproduced … sought to cut their losses by
quickly selling off their stockpiles of semiconductors. 2. with-
draw from a losing or unsatisfactory situation: Bonaparte saw
that he was beaten and, like the great man he was, cut his
losses.