put (p t)v. put, put·ting, puts v.tr. 1. To place in a specified location; set: She put the books on the table. 2. To cause to be in a specified condition: His gracious manners put me at ease. 3. To cause (one) to undergo something; subject: The interrogators put the prisoner to torture. 4. To assign; attribute: They put a false interpretation on events. 5. To estimate: We put the time at five o'clock. 6. To impose or levy: The governor has put a tax on cigarettes. 7. Games To wager (a stake); bet: put $50 on a horse. 8. Sports To hurl with an overhand pushing motion: put the shot. 9. To bring up for consideration or judgment: put a question to the judge. 10. To express; state: I put my objections bluntly. 11. To render in a specified language or literary form: put prose into verse. 12. To adapt: The lyrics had been put to music. 13. To urge or force to an action: a mob that put the thief to flight. 14. To apply: We must put our minds to it. 15. To force the purchase of (a stock or commodity) by exercising a put option. v.intr. 1. To begin to move, especially in a hurry. 2. Nautical To proceed: The ship put into the harbor. n. 1. Sports An act of putting the shot. 2. An option to sell a stipulated amount of stock or securities within a specified time and at a fixed price. adj. Informal Phrasal Verbs: Fixed; stationary: stay put. put about Nautical To change or cause to change direction; go or cause to go from one tack to another. put across 1. To state so as to be understood clearly or accepted readily: put her views across during the hearing. 2. To attain or carry through by deceit or trickery. put away 1. To renounce; discard: put all negative thoughts away. 2. Informal To consume (food or drink) readily and quickly: put away the dinner in just a few minutes. 3. Informal To confine to a mental health facility. 4. a. Informal To kill: The injured cat was put away. b. To bury. put by To save for later use: "Some crops were so abundant they could even be put by" (Carole Lalli). put down 1. a. To write down. b. To enter in a list. 2. a. To bring to an end; repress: put down a rebellion. b. To render ineffective: put down rumors. 3. To subject (an animal) to euthanasia. 4. Slang a. To criticize: put me down for failing the course. b. To belittle; disparage: put down their knowledge of literature. c. To humiliate: "Many status games seem designed to put down others" (Alvin F. Poussaint). 5. a. To assign to a category: Just put him down as a sneak. b. To attribute: Let's put this disaster down to inexperience. 6. To consume (food or drink) readily; put away: puts down three big meals a day. put forth 1. To grow: Plants put forth new growth in the spring. 2. To bring to bear; exert: At least put forth a semblance of effort when you scrub the floor. 3. To offer for consideration: put forth an idea. put forward To propose for consideration: put forward a new plan. put in 1. To make a formal offer of: put in a plea of guilty. 2. To introduce, as in conversation; interpose: He put in a good word for me. 3. To spend (time) at a location or job: I put in eight hours at the office. 4. To plant: We put in 20 rows of pine trees. 5. To apply: put in for early retirement. 6. Nautical To enter a port or harbor: The freighter puts in at noon. put off 1. a. To delay; postpone: put off paying the bills. b. To persuade to delay further action: managed to put off the creditors for another week. 2. To take off; discard: put off a sweater. 3. To repel or repulse, as from bad manners: His indifferent attitude has put us off. 4. To pass (money) or sell (merchandise) fraudulently. put on 1. To clothe oneself with; don: put on a coat; put socks on. 2. To apply; activate: put on the brakes. 3. To assume affectedly: put on an English accent. 4. Slang To tease or mislead (another): You're putting me on! 5. To add: put on weight. 6. To produce; perform: put on a variety show. put out 1. To extinguish: put out a fire. 2. Nautical To leave, as a port or harbor; depart. 3. To expel: put out a drunk. 4. To publish: put out a weekly newsletter. 5. a. To inconvenience: Did our early arrival put you out? b. To offend or irritate: I was put out by his attention to the television set. 6. To make an effort. 7. Baseball To retire a runner. 8. Vulgar Slang To be sexually active. Used of a woman. put over 1. To postpone; delay. 2. To put across, especially to deceive: tried to put a lie over, but to no avail. put through 1. To bring to a successful end: put the project through on time; put through a number of new laws. 2. To cause to undergo: He put me through a lot of trouble. 3. a. To make a telephone connection for: The operator put me through on the office line. b. To obtain a connection for (a telephone call). put to Nautical To head for shore. put together To construct; create: put together a new bookcase; put together a tax package. put up 1. To erect; build. 2. To preserve; can: put up six jars of jam. 3. To nominate: put up a candidate at a convention. 4. To provide (funds) in advance: put up money for the new musical. 5. To provide lodgings for: put a friend up for the night. 6. Sports To startle (game animals) from cover: put up grouse. 7. To offer for sale: put up his antiques. 8. a. To make a display or the appearance of: put up a bluff. b. To engage in; carry on: put up a good fight. put upon Idioms: To impose on; overburden: He was always being put upon by his friends. put an end/a halt/a stop to To bring to an end; terminate. put down roots To establish a permanent residence in a locale. put in an appearance To attend a social engagement, especially for a short time. put it to (someone) Slang 1. To overburden with tasks or work. 2. To put blame on. 3. To take unfair advantage of. 4. To lay out the facts of a situation to (another) in a forceful candid manner. 5. To defeat soundly; trounce. put (one) in mind To remind: You put me in mind of your grandmother. put (oneself) out To make a considerable effort; go to trouble or expense. put (one's) finger on To identify: I can't put my finger on the person in that photograph. put (one's) foot down To take a firm stand. put (one's) foot in (one's) mouth To make a tactless remark. put paid to Chiefly British To finish off; put to rest: "We've given up saying we only kill to eat; Kraft dinner and freeze-dried food have put paid to that one" (Margaret Atwood). put (someone) in (someone's) place To lower the dignity of (someone); humble. put (someone) through (someone's) paces To cause to demonstrate ability or skill; test: The drama coach put her students through their paces before the first performance. put (someone) up to To cause to commit a funny, mischievous, or malicious act: My older brother put me up to making a prank telephone call. put something over on: To deceive, cheat, or trick. put the arm/bite/squeeze on Slang To ask another for money. put the finger on Slang To inform on: The witness put the finger on the killer. put the make/moves on Slang To make sexual advances to. put the screws to/on Slang To pressure (another) in an extreme manner. put the skids on Slang To bring to a halt: "Sacrificing free speech to put the skids on prurient printed matter is not the correct path, the courts said" (Curtis J. Sitomer). put to bed Informal 1. To make final preparations for the printing of (a newspaper, for example). 2. To make final preparations for completing (a project). put to it To cause extreme difficulty for: We were put to it to finish the book on time. put to sleep 1. To make weary; bore. 2. To subject to euthanasia. 3. To subject to general anesthesia. put two and two together To draw the proper conclusions from existing evidence or indications. put up or shut up Slang To have to endure (something unpleasant) without complaining or take the action necessary to remove the source of the unpleasantry. put up with To endure without complaint: We had to put up with the inconvenience. [Middle English putten, back-formation from Old English *p  tte, past tense of p tan, to put out.] |
put on
vb (tr, mainly adverb)
1. (Clothing & Fashion) to clothe oneself in to put on a coat
2. (usually passive) to adopt (an attitude or feeling) insincerely his misery was just put on
3. (Performing Arts / Theatre) to present or stage (a play, show, etc.)
4. to increase or add she put on weight the batsman put on fifty runs before lunch
5. (Engineering / Electrical Engineering) to cause (an electrical device) to function
6. (Individual Sports & Recreations / Horse Racing) (Group Games / Gambling, except Cards) (also preposition) to wager (money) on a horse race, game, etc. he put ten pounds on the favourite
7. (also preposition) to impose as a burden or levy to put a tax on cars
8. (Team Sports / Cricket) Cricket to cause (a bowler) to bowl
put (someone) on
a. to connect (a person) by telephone
b. Slang to mock or tease
n put-on Slang chiefly US and Canadian
1. a hoax or piece of mockery
2. an affected manner or mode of behaviour
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Verb | 1. | put on - put clothing on one's body; "What should I wear today?"; "He put on his best suit for the wedding"; "The princess donned a long blue dress"; "The queen assumed the stately robes"; "He got into his jeans" dress, get dressed - put on clothes; "we had to dress quickly"; "dress the patient"; "Can the child dress by herself?" hat - put on or wear a hat; "He was unsuitably hatted" try on, try - put on a garment in order to see whether it fits and looks nice; "Try on this sweater to see how it looks" scarf - wrap in or adorn with a scarf slip on - put on with ease or speed; "slip into something more comfortable after work"; "slip on one's shoes" |
| 2. | put on - add to something existing; "She put on a sun room" add - make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of; "We added two students to that dorm room"; "She added a personal note to her letter"; "Add insult to injury"; "Add some extra plates to the dinner table" | |
| 3. | put on - put on the stove or ready for cooking; "put on the tea, please!" cookery, cooking, preparation - the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat; "cooking can be a great art"; "people are needed who have experience in cookery"; "he left the preparation of meals to his wife" | |
| 4. |  put on - carry out (performances); "They turned in a splendid effort"; "They turned in top jobs for the second straight game" | |
| 5. | put on - add to the odometer; "He put on 1,000 miles on this trip" add - make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of; "We added two students to that dorm room"; "She added a personal note to her letter"; "Add insult to injury"; "Add some extra plates to the dinner table" | |
| 6. | put on - prepare and supply with the necessary equipment for execution or performance; "mount a theater production"; "mount an attack"; "mount a play" rerun - rerun a performance of a play, for example | |
| 7. |  put on - apply to a surface; "She applied paint to the back of the house"; "Put on make-up!"daub - apply to a surface; "daub paint onto the wall" cover - provide with a covering or cause to be covered; "cover her face with a handkerchief"; "cover the child with a blanket"; "cover the grave with flowers" gum - cover, fill, fix or smear with or as if with gum; "if you gum the tape it is stronger" dress - put a dressing on; "dress the salads" cream - put on cream, as on one's face or body; "She creams her face every night" cold-cream - put cold cream on one's face putty - apply putty in order to fix or fill; "putty the window sash" sponge on - apply with a sponge; "The painter sponged on his washes" | |
| 8. | put on - fool or hoax; "The immigrant was duped because he trusted everyone"; "You can't fool me!" kid, pull the leg of - tell false information to for fun; "Are you pulling my leg?" deceive, lead astray, betray - cause someone to believe an untruth; "The insurance company deceived me when they told me they were covering my house" | |
| 9. | put on - increase (one's body weight); "She gained 20 pounds when she stopped exercising" pack on - gain (weight); "He packed on two pounds over the summer" change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election" | |
| Adj. | 1. | put on - adopted in order to deceive; "an assumed name"; "an assumed cheerfulness"; "a fictitious address"; "fictive sympathy"; "a pretended interest"; "a put-on childish voice"; "sham modesty" counterfeit, imitative - not genuine; imitating something superior; "counterfeit emotion"; "counterfeit money"; "counterfeit works of art"; "a counterfeit prince" |
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|