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Encyclopedic overview
A gaff cutter, Kleine Freiheit, with a genoa jib set USCGC Legare, an example of a US Coast Guard cutter
A cutter is any of various types of watercraft. The term can refer to the rig (sail plan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or border force cutter), to a type of ship's boat which can be used under sail or oars, or, historically, to a type of fast-sailing vessel introduced in the 18th century, some of which were used as small warships.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “cutter” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.