DictionaryAI

puppet

PUP-it/ˈpʌpɪt/

Pluralpuppets

Verbpuppets, puppeting, puppeted

5 meanings of puppet

Practice

  1. 1
    show figurenouncountable
    A small toy person or animal that you move with strings or sticks, or by putting your hand inside it.

    She slipped the frog puppet onto her hand and made it talk.

    The children made puppets out of paper bags.

    Note
  2. 2
    tool of othersnounfigurativelycountable
    A person or country that is controlled by someone else.

    The young king was just a puppet of the army generals.

    People called the mayor a puppet of the big builders in town.

    Similarpawn, tool, stooge, instrument, figurehead

    Note
  3. 3
    make moveverbfigurativelytransitive
    To control someone or something the way you would move a puppet.

    It takes three people to puppet the big dragon in the parade.

    He felt that his parents were puppeting his whole life.

    Similarmanipulate, control, operate

    Note
  4. 4
    machine supportnouncountable
    The upright part of a lathe that holds up the shaft that turns.

    The puppet holds the spinning part of the lathe steady.

    Dad oiled the bearing in the lathe's puppet before he started work.

    Note

Less common meaning

  1. 5
    doll (old use)nounobsolete
    A small doll or figure shaped like a person.
    Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of puppet apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English popet, probably from French, and in the end from Latin pupa, "doll". It is related to puppy.