cut down
With or without an object
Reduce the amount of something
I am trying to cut down on sugar.
Usage
'Cut down' also means to make a tree fall: They cut down the old oak.
With or without an object
It can be used with no object, and it can also take one. With an object it is usually separable: turn the volume up, turn it up.
The particle: down
This verb belongs to the group ‘getting less’.
Related idiom
Read the meaning and origin of a related expression on The Village Idiom.
Practise it
Add it to your daily practice or see every verb with down.
Further reading: cut down on Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).