put

verb (putting, put, put) in place / position 1 [VN+adv./prep.] to move sth into a particular place or position: Put the cases down there, please. * Did you put sugar in my coffee? * Put your hand up if you need more paper. 2 [VN+adv./prep.] to move sth into a particular place or position using force: He put his fist through a glass door. 3 [VN+adv./prep.] to cause sb/sth to go to a particular place: Her family put her into a nursing home. * It was the year the Americans put a man on the moon. attach 4 [VN+adv./prep.] to attach or fix sth to sth else: We had to put new locks on all the doors. write 5 [VN] [usually +adv./prep.] to write sth or make a mark on sth: Put your name here. * Friday at 11? I'll put it in my diary. * I couldn't read what she had put. into state / condition 6 [VN+adv./prep.] to bring sb/sth into the state or condition mentioned: I was put in charge of the office. * The incident put her in a bad mood. * Put yourself in my position. What would you have done? * I tried to put the matter into perspective. * Don't go putting yourself at risk. * It was time to put their suggestion into practice. * This new injury will put him out of action for several weeks. affect sb / sth 7 [VN+adv./prep.] ~ sth on / onto / to sth to make sb/sth feel sth or be affected by sth: Her new job has put a great strain on her. * They put pressure on her to resign. * It's time you put a stop to this childish behaviour. give value / rank 8 [VN] ~ sth on sth to give or attach a particular level of importance, trust, value, etc. to sth: Our company puts the emphasis on quality. * He put a limit on the amount we could spend. 9 [VN+adv./prep.] to consider sb/sth to belong to the class or level mentioned: I'd put her in the top rank of modern novelists. express 10 [VN+adv./prep.] to express or state sth in a particular way: She put it very tactfully. * Put simply, we accept their offer or go bankrupt. * I was, to put it mildly, annoyed (= I was extremely angry). * He was too trusting-or, to put it another way, he had no head for business. * The meat was-how shall I put it?-a little overdone. * As T.S. Eliot puts it... * She had never tried to put this feeling into words. * Can you help me put this letter into good English, please? in sport 11 [VN] to throw the SHOT IDIOMS Most idioms containing put are at the entries for the nouns and adjectives in the idioms, for example put your foot in it is at foot. put it about (BrE, informal) to have many sexual partners I wouldn't put it past sb (to do sth) (informal) used to say that you think sb is capable of doing sth wrong, illegal, etc. put it to sb that... to suggest sth to sb to see if they can argue against it: I put it to you that you are the only person who had a motive for the crime. put one over on sb (spoken) to persuade sb to believe sth that is not true: Don't try to put one over on me! put sb through it (informal, especially BrE) to force sb to experience sth difficult or unpleasant: They really put me through it (= asked me difficult questions) at the interview. put together used when comparing or contrasting sb/sth with a group of other people or things to mean 'combined' or 'in total': Your department spent more last year than all the others put together. PHRASALVERBS put sth<->about (BrE, informal) to tell a lot of people news, information, etc. that may be false: [+that] Someone's been putting it about that you plan to resign. put sth above sth = PUTSTHBEFORESTH put yourself / sth<->across / over (to sb) to communicate your ideas, feelings, etc. successfully to sb: She's not very good at putting her views across. put sth<->aside 1 to ignore or forget sth, usually a feeling or difference of opinion SYNDISREGARD: They decided to put aside their differences. 2 (also put sth<->by especially in BrE) to save money for a particular purpose put sth at sth to calculate sb/sth to be a particular age, weight, amount, etc: The damage to the building is put at over $1 million. put sb<->away [oftenpassive] (informal) to send sb to prison, to a mental hospital, etc. put sth<->away 1 to put sth in the place where it is kept because you have finished using it: I'm just going to put the car away (= in the garage). 2 to save money to spend later: She has a few thousand dollars put away for her retirement. 3 (informal) to eat or drink large quantities of sth: He must have put away a bottle of whisky last night. put sth<->back 1 to return sth to its usual place or to the place where it was before it was moved: If you use something, put it back! 2 to move sth to a later time or date SYNPOSTPONE: The meeting has been put back to next week. 3 to cause sth to be delayed: Poor trading figures put back our plans for expansion. 4 to move the hands of a clock so that they show the correct earlier time: Remember to put your clocks back tonight (= because the time has officially changed). put sth before / above sth to treat sth as more important than sth else put sth behind you to try to forget about an unpleasant experience and think about the future put sth<->by = PUTSTHASIDE put down (of an aircraft or its pilot) to land: He put down in a field. put sb<->down (informal) to make sb look or feel stupid, especially in front of other people relatednounPUT-DOWN put sth<->down 1 to stop holding sth and place it on a table, shelf, etc: Put that knife down before you hurt somebody! * It's a great book. I couldn't put it down. * (BrE) She put the phone down on me (= put the receiver down before I had finished speaking). 2 to write sth; to make a note of sth: The meeting's on the 22nd. Put it down in your diary. 3 to pay part of the cost of sth: We put a 5% deposit down on the house. 4 to stop sth by force SYNCRUSH: to put down a rebellion * The military government is determined to put down all opposition. 5 [oftenpassive] to kill an animal, usually by giving it a drug, because it is old or sick: We had to have our cat put down. 6 (BrE) to put a baby to bed: Can you be quiet-I've just put the baby down. 7 to present sth formally for discussion by a parliament or committee SYNTABLE: to put down a motion / an amendment put sb down as sth to consider or judge sb to be a particular type of person: I'd put them both down as retired teachers. put sb down for sth to put sb's name on a list, etc. for sth: Put me down for three tickets for Saturday. * They've put their son down for the local school. put sth down to sth to consider that sth is caused by sth: What do you put her success down to? put sth<->forth (formal) = PUTSTHOUT put yourself / sb/sth<->forward to suggest yourself/sb as a candidate for a job or position: Can I put you / your name forward for club secretary? * He has put himself forward for a place on the national executive. put sth<->forward 1 to move sth to an earlier time or date: We've put the wedding forward by one week. 2 to move the hands of a clock to the correct later time: Remember to put your clocks forward tonight (= because the time has officially changed). 3 to suggest sth for discussion: to put forward an argument / a plan / a suggestion put sb<->in to elect a political party to govern a country: Who will the voters put in this time? put sth<->in 1 to fix equipment or furniture into position so that it can be used SYNINSTALL: We're having a new shower put in. 2 to include sth in a letter, story, etc. 3 to interrupt another speaker in order to say sth: Could I put in a word? * [+speech] 'But what about us?' he put in. 4 to officially make a claim, request, etc: The company has put in a claim for damages. 5 (also put sth into sth) to spend a lot of time or make a lot of effort doing sth: She often puts in twelve hours' work a day. * [+-ing] He's putting a lot of work into improving his French. relatednounINPUT 6 (also put sth into sth) to use or give money: [+-ing] He's put all his savings into buying that house. put in (at...)