caught in crossfire, cut one's losses, cut back/cut down, Soothe the Savage Beast

The battle for technological supremacy between China and the US risks damaging Cambridge’s growing reputation as a global centre for innovation, experts have warned.

Beijing’s influence on British universities is growing and uncontrolled, say experts

FT.COM

Cambridge caught in crossfire of US-China tech war

"Why is it that when we are told to cut down on bacon, wine and sugar, we aren’t told to cut down on cars?"



Gunshots, Then Silence: And the Sorrow Spreads 
By DAN BARRYLaWanda Russell, 17, was caught in an argument between two groups of men and died near her home in Birmingham, Ala., cut down in an American crossfire.

Soothe the Savage Beast

EuroVox | 12.05.2008 | 05:30

French Mom Learns to Soothe the Savage Beast

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The calm before the storm

France has the highest birth rate in Europe, alongside Ireland. But this is not mean le baby is any easier to please in Paris.

Even in child-friendly France, the birth of a first child tends to turn a woman's life upside down.
Lack of sleep and seemingly incessant crying can turn the most enthusiastic mom into a frazzled zombie. For many of these new moms, the so-called "joys" of motherhood remain an utterly foreign concept.

soothe

savage Show phonetics
adjective
1 extremely violent, wild or fierce:
a savage dog/beast
a brutal and savage attack

2 very serious or cruel:
savage criticism

3 very large and severe:
savage cuts in education spending

savage 
verb [T]
If an animal savages someone, it attacks them violently and badly hurts them:
The child was savaged by a dog.

savage
noun [C] OFFENSIVE
a person whose way of life is at a very early stage of development:
Twelve thousand years ago, our ancestors were primitive savages living in caves.

savagely 
adverb
in a violent, cruel or very severe way

savagery Show phonetics
noun [C or U]
(acts of) violent cruelty

 sav・age

   

━━ a. 野蛮な; 荒れはてた; 猛烈な; 無作法な; 〔話〕 かんかんに怒った.
 get savage with　…にひどく腹を立てる.
━━ n. 蛮人; 無作法者; 残忍な（人）.
━━ vt. 痛めつける; 酷評する; かみつく.
 sav・age・ly　━━ ad.
 sav・age・ness　━━ n. 未開, 残忍.
 sav・age・ry　━━ n. （普通pl.） 残忍; 蛮行.

cut one's losses
Withdraw from a losing situation, as in They decided to close down the unprofitable branch and cut their losses. This expression uses cut in the sense of "reduce" (also see cut down, def. 2).


cut down
1. Kill, as in The troops were cut down one by one as they crossed the field. [Early 1800s]

2. Also, cut down on. Reduce, decrease, as in I want to cut down my caffeine intake, or We have to cut down on our expenses. [Mid-1800s]

3. cut down to size; knock down to size. Reduce the self-importance of, humble, as in He's so arrogant--I wish someone would cut him down to size, or She really got knocked down to size when her class ranking slipped. [Early 1900s]

crossfire 

noun [U]
bullets fired towards you from different directions:
One boat of refugees was caught in (the) naval crossfire and sunk.



cut back/down phrasal verb
to do less of something or use something in smaller amounts:
The government has announced plans to to cut back on defence spending by 10% next year.
I'm trying to cut down on caffeine.

cutback
noun [C]
a reduction in something, made in order to save money:
The closure of the Manchester printing factory is the company's biggest single cutback so far.