cut and dry

/kʌt ənd draɪ/
adjective
  1. Already decided or settled; not open to change or discussion.
    • The rules for the contest are cut-and-dry, so there is no room for negotiation.
    • The teacher gave a cut-and-dry answer to the student's question.
    • Many people think the solution is cut-and-dry, but the problem is actually more complex.
  2. Simple and clear; easy to understand or deal with.
    • This is not a cut-and-dry situation; we need to consider everyone's feelings.
    • The instructions for assembling the furniture were cut-and-dry, so I finished in an hour.
    • The math problem looked cut-and-dry, but it had a tricky step.
What does "cut and dry" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean