he Phrase “(to be) A Cut Above The Rest” — is used to describe something which is much better, or of a higher quality (“Above”) than all of the other things which are similar to, or in the same class as, whatever is being referred-to.  It essentially means:  “It is better than all of the others of it’s kind”

ccording to Traditional Grammar — this phrase is (technically) a Noun-Phrase which is used to describe some Person or “Thing” — like a company or a service.  However — since this Phrase is used to say that something IS a “Cut Above The Rest” when that thing is NOT a “cut” and has nothing to do with “cutting” — then this Phrase is often mistaken to be an “Idiom”.  But you should already know that — There Is No Such Thing As An Idiom  😎

urthermore — by simply looking at the structure of the Sentence — we can see that this is ALSO not an “Idiomatic Phrase” — (regardless of what other teachers may say…  they simply do not Know).  It is a Metaphorical Noun-Phrase.  This is because it is clearly saying that:  “One Thing IS Another Thing” (which it is not) — as a way of saying that they are very similar.  It does not matter if we are not clear on what the actual Metaphor is.  That does not make it Idiomatic.

he Verb “Cut”, with-in the Phrase,  could be referring to a “Cut Of Meat”.  Or it could be referring to the “Cut” of a finely tailored suit.  But the Preposition “Above” can only have an abstract meaning — likening it to being “Better”;  higher (“Above”) on a scale of quality.

ut, because the Metaphor for both “Cut” & “Above” are not exactly known — THIS is why most un-enlightened teachers make the mistake of thinking that it is “Idiomatic”.  And this is the truth for almost ALL so-called “Idioms” — (of-which there is no such thing).