Meaning & use
ribbon cutting
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Meanings
nouncountable
A ceremony in which an important person cuts a long band of cloth to mark the official opening of a building, road, or event.
Grammar: Countable: you can attend a ribbon cutting or watch two ribbon cuttings on the same day.
Patterns
- at a ribbon cutting
- hold a ribbon cutting
- a ribbon cutting for something
The mayor spoke briefly at the ribbon cutting before the library doors opened to the public.
They held a ribbon cutting for the new bridge, and hundreds of residents came to watch.
Her first ribbon cutting as mayor was for a small bakery on Main Street.
nounsingular
The act of cutting such a band of cloth at an official opening event.
Grammar: Usually singular and used with 'the': the ribbon cutting takes place at noon.
Patterns
- the ribbon cutting takes place
- after the ribbon cutting
The ribbon cutting takes place at ten, followed by a tour of the building.
Guests were given small scissors as souvenirs after the ribbon cutting.
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to or marking an official opening ceremony of this kind.
Grammar: Comes before a noun and is normally written with a hyphen: a ribbon-cutting event.
Patterns
- a ribbon-cutting ceremony
- a ribbon-cutting event
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was moved indoors because of the rain.
She was invited to the ribbon-cutting event but could not attend.
Word forms
| plural | ribbon cuttings |
|---|
Common combinations
- a ribbon-cutting ceremony
- The ribbon-cutting ceremony lasted about twenty minutes.
- hold a ribbon cutting
- The store will hold a ribbon cutting on its first morning.
- attend a ribbon cutting
- Local business owners were invited to attend the ribbon cutting.
- the official ribbon cutting
- The official ribbon cutting is scheduled for next Friday.
- a ribbon-cutting event
- Reporters covered the ribbon-cutting event for the evening news.
Synonyms and how they differ
- opening ceremony
- A wider term for any formal event that launches something; a ribbon cutting is one common kind of opening ceremony.
- inauguration
- More formal and often used for officials taking office or for major public works, while a ribbon cutting is usually a short, friendly event.
- launch
- Focuses on the moment a product or service starts, and it need not involve any ceremony or cutting.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: ribbon cutting or ribbon-cutting ceremony?
ribbon cutting vs ribbon-cutting ceremony
This is the full phrase for the event; 'ribbon cutting' alone can also mean just the moment of cutting, so the two are not always interchangeable.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'ribbon cutting' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Do a ribbon cutting' or 'hold a ribbon cutting' is the natural verb pairing for this event. 'Make' and 'take' do not collocate with it, and 'give a ribbon cutting' suggests handing the event to someone rather than staging it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ribbon cutting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.