From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcut-throatˈcut-throat, cutthroat /ˈkʌtθrəʊt $ -θroʊt/ adjective [usually before noun] COMPETE WITH/TRY TO BEATa cut-throat activity or business involves people competing with each other in an unpleasant way Cut-throat competition is keeping prices low. the cut-throat world of advertising
Examples from the Corpus
cut-throat• Media Advertising is a cut-throat business and nowhere is this more evident than in the media department of a thriving agency.• At the root of the problems with the old system was cut-throat competition.• This new capitalism is a cut-throat enterprise: to stay in business you must not only compete with but beat your competitors.• In an increasingly cut-throat environment, purely political, or ideological, considerations may be important, albeit secondary.• London movie-goers gave Glengarry Glen Ross, about cut-throat estate agents, the thumbs up this week.• Shops there got off to a bad start in the weeks after currency union, many demanding cut-throat prices.• Confounding nearly all expectations, he and his cut-throat regime proved highly resilient.From Longman Business Dictionarycut-throatˈcut-throat adjective [only before a noun]COMMERCE involving businesses competing very strongly with each other, for example by offering lower prices which may force some businesses to failCut-throat competition is keeping ticket prices low.a cut-throat battle for market share 