put down

phrasal verb · put-down noun

18 meanings of put down

1
insultphrasal verbidiomatictransitive
To insult someone, or to make them seem small, foolish or unworthy.
A good coach never puts down players in front of the whole team.
Her older brothers used to put her down for wanting to be an artist.
Similarbelittle, disparage, insult, humiliate, demean
Oppositecompliment
Note
A pronoun object always goes between the two words: people put you down, never put down you, and the Who's "My Generation" (1965) puts its pronoun in that slot too, complaining about people who belittle the young. A longer object can sit either inside or after: put their sister down, put down anyone who disagrees. The opposite is talk up, and the remark itself is a put-down.
2
kill (animal)phrasal verbeuphemistictransitive
A gentle way of saying to kill an animal painlessly, usually to end its suffering; to euthanize.
The horse's broken leg could not be saved, and it had to be put down.
We put our old cat down last spring, when the cancer had spread too far.
Similareuthanize
Note
Owners and vets use the phrase because it names the death without the word kill. It often comes in the passive with had to (it had to be put down), which makes the decision sound forced by circumstance rather than chosen. Put to sleep is gentler still; euthanize is the clinical word for the same act.
3
noun · put-downcountable
An insult or barb: a snide or demeaning remark aimed at someone.
Calling his proposal "cute" was a put-down, and everyone at the table knew it.
The comedian is known for quick put-downs aimed at hecklers.
Similarinsult, dig, jibe, barb
Oppositecompliment
Note
The noun takes a hyphen, put-down, and its plural is put-downs; the verb stays two open words, so you put someone down with a put-down. It names a single remark, and it often comes with meant as or quick: he meant it as a put-down, quick put-downs aimed at hecklers.
4
crush (rebellion)phrasal verbtransitive
To stop, crush or stamp out something, especially a rebellion or uprising, often by force.
Troops were sent in to put down the riots within hours.
The king put the revolt down with a cruelty that shocked even his allies.
Similarstop, end
5
place on surfacephrasal verbtransitive
To set down something one is holding, placing it on a surface or the ground.
She put down her coffee cup and turned to face him.
Put that knife down before someone gets hurt!
Similarplace, set
6
writephrasal verbtransitive
To write something, or set it down in writing.
Before the meeting, she put down a few notes on what she wanted to say.
It took him years to put his memories down on paper.
Similarwrite, record, jot
7
pay depositphrasal verbtransitive
To pay an amount of money as a deposit.
They put down $20,000 on the house and borrowed the rest.
Tenants must put down one month's rent as security before moving in.
Similardeposit, pay
8
baby to bedphrasal verbidiomatictransitive
To settle a baby somewhere so that it can sleep.
I'll call you back once I've put the baby down for her nap.
Most nights we put him down at seven, and he sleeps until morning.
9
end phone callphrasal verbtransitive
To hang up a telephone and thereby end a call.
She was so angry that she put the phone down on him in the middle of his apology.
Before I could explain, the receptionist had put down the receiver.
10
stop readingphrasal verbidiomatictransitive
To stop reading a book, whether for a while or for good.
Once you start the mystery, you won't want to put it down until the last page.
She put down the biography halfway through and never went back to it.
Note
The phrase does its best work in the negative, as praise: a book you can't put down is too exciting to stop reading, as with the reader who was unable to put down The Stand. Said plainly, putting a book down can mean a pause or giving up, and only context, or for good, tells which.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
The Stand is a book. stephenking.com
The example describes a reader unable to put down The Stand. en.wiktionary.org

11
drop offphrasal verbidiomatictransitive
To drop off a passenger, stopping a vehicle to let them get out.
The cab put her down at the station with ten minutes to spare.
Drivers may only put down passengers at the marked stops.
Similardrop
12
land (aircraft)phrasal verbidiomaticintransitive
Of an aircraft or its pilot, to come down and land.
Low on fuel, the helicopter put down on a sandbar in the river.
The crew was told to put down at the nearest airport.
Similarland
Note
Pilots use it both ways: without an object, as in the helicopter put down on a sandbar, or with the aircraft as object, as in she put the plane down in a field. It leans toward landings made wherever the aircraft can come down, so managed to put down in a field often signals an emergency.
13
add to listphrasal verbtransitive
To add a name, one's own or someone else's, to a list, such as a sign-up sheet.
Twenty volunteers have already put themselves down for the beach cleanup.
Shall I put you down for the early shift?
Similarregister, enroll
14
give as causephrasal verbidiomatictransitive
To give one thing as the reason for another, in the pattern put something down to a cause.
Doctors put the rise in cases down to the long, cold winter.
I'd put most of her success down to sheer hard work.
Similarattribute, ascribe
15
kill (person)phrasal verbeuphemistictransitive
A euphemistic way of saying to execute someone, especially without any legal process.
The commander's orders were to put down anyone found inside the compound.
Rather than stand trial, the traitors were marched behind the barracks and put down.
Similarexecute, eliminate
Note
The words of the vet's euphemism, turned on people, make a killing sound like a chore, and that chill is the point. Because putting someone down can also mean belittling them, this sense needs a setting of orders and weapons to be heard as killing. For a lawful sentence carried out, executed is the plain word.
16
lower pricesphrasal verbIrelandUKtransitive
To lower prices or taxes, or the price of something on sale.
Supermarkets have put milk down by five pence a pint.
The Chancellor is expected to put fuel duty down in the autumn budget.
Similarlower, reduce, cut
Oppositeraise, increase
Note
In British and Irish usage a retailer puts petrol down and a government puts a tax down. The object is often the goods themselves rather than their price, so a company putting diesel down is charging less for it, and the phrase turns up in reports of price wars.
17
drinkphrasal verbslangUStransitive
To drink something down.
We put down a couple of pitchers at the bar after the game.
That guy can put down a six-pack without slowing down.
Similardrink, chug
Note
American slang uses it for drinking in quantity: two bottles of red wine, a couple of pitchers, a six-pack, rarely a sip. It belongs to casual talk about nights out; in neutral writing, drink is the plain word.
18
small lettersphrasal verbobsolete
In printing, to set type in lowercase, or to change type from capital to lowercase letters.
The editor's mark told the compositor to put down the line he had set in capitals.
House style required the printers to put down common nouns that the author had capitalized.
Note
Compositors setting type by hand used it with put up as its partner for changing letters to capitals. The pair belongs to the type case itself: capitals were kept in the upper case and small letters in the lower, which is where uppercase and lowercase come from. Both instructions are now out of use.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Hand compositors used put down for changing capitals to lowercase, with put up as its opposite. paekakarikipress.com
Capital letters were kept in the upper type case and small letters in the lower case. etymonline.com
The terms uppercase and lowercase derive from these type cases and their relative positions. etymonline.com

Practice

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Origin

A deverbal formation from the verb put down.

Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

The noun put down (also spelled put-down) is a deverbal formation from the verb put down. en.wiktionary.org