put out

phrasal verb · adjective · put-out noun

17 meanings of put out

1
stop burningphrasal verbtransitive
To extinguish a fire or something that is burning.
Firefighters worked through the night to put out the blaze.
Campers must put out their fires completely before leaving the site.
Similardouse
Oppositelight, ignite, kindle
Note
Othello's "Put out the light, and then put out the light" turns on this sense: the first light is a candle, the second the life of the woman he has decided must die, quenched as surely as a flame. The passive can even take a person whose clothes have caught fire, put out by passers-by.
2
feeling offendedadjective
Feeling offended or indignant about something.
She was a little put out that nobody had asked her opinion.
The chef looked thoroughly put out when the critic sent the soup back.
Similaroffended, annoyed, miffed, irritated, indignant
Note
The adjective grew from the verb for upsetting someone: whoever has been put out is left feeling slighted. It usually follows be, look or feel, and it takes degree words freely, from a little put out to mightily put out, as Nghi Vo writes of Lao Bingyi in Into the Riverlands.
3
phrasal verbtransitive
To inconvenience, impose on, or disturb someone, or to annoy them and throw them out of sorts.
Are you sure it won't put you out if we stay the weekend?
The sudden change of plans put everyone out, and the meeting started badly.
Similarbother, upset, disturb, unsettle, ruffle
Note
Much of its life is spent in politeness: I don't mean to put you out; are you sure it won't put you out? There it means imposing on someone's time or comfort. William Dean Howells' The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885) shows the other edge, a girl so pert that she says things "to puzzle you and put you out", unsettling rather than inconveniencing.
4
publishphrasal verbtransitive
To broadcast or publish something, such as a statement, an album, or a magazine.
The company put out a statement denying the rumors.
The band puts out a new album almost every year.
Similarrelease, issue, publish, broadcast
5
producephrasal verbtransitive
To produce or emit something, such as goods, power, or heat.
The new engine puts out far more power than the old one.
The plant can put out three hundred cars a day.
Similarproduce, generate, emit, manufacture
6
force to leavephrasal verbtransitive
To expel someone, forcing them to leave a place, group, or institution.
The bouncer put out two men who had started a fight at the bar.
She was put out of the club for breaking its rules.
Similareject
Oppositeadmit
Note
Stephen Fry's The Liar (1991) gets a joke out of this: asked about the boys who put out a magazine at school, the reply is that they were both "put out" themselves, "booted out" in blunter words, a pun on the publishing sense. The place being left follows of: put out of the club, put out of the house.
7
take outsidephrasal verbtransitive
To place something or someone outside, or to remove them from where they are.
Can you put out the trash before the truck comes on Tuesday?
We put the cat out every night so she can hunt.
Note
The object can stand on either side of out: put out the dog, or put the cat out. A pronoun has only the middle, so it is put it out, never put out it, and the same holds when the object is a fire, a light or a statement. The other removals, from expelling a member to deposing a leader, branch off this one.
8
switch offphrasal verbtransitive
To switch off or extinguish a light.
Put out the lights when you leave the office.
The warden ordered every household to put their lights out during the air raid.
Similarextinguish
Note
Wartime blackouts gave it a stock order: wardens shouted "Put that light out". In Terry Deary's Put out the Light (2010), one warden shouts the words in Othello's order instead, and explains himself in a deep voice with a single word: "Shakespeare".
9
dismiss (player)phrasal verbtransitive
In baseball or cricket, to cause a player on the offensive side to be out.
The shortstop fielded the grounder and stepped on second to put out the runner.
The bowler put out the opening batsman with his third ball.
Similardismiss, retire
Note
Baseball scoring makes it exact: the fielder who completes the out is the one who puts the runner out, such as the first baseman who catches the throw or the catcher on a strikeout. A fielder who handled the ball earlier in the play is credited with an assist instead.
10
jointphrasal verbtransitive
To dislocate a joint, such as a shoulder, knee, or the joints of the back.
She put her shoulder out trying to catch the falling ladder.
He put out his back moving the piano and spent a week in bed.
Similardislocate

11
sexphrasal verbintransitive
To agree to have sex with someone.
He dumped her after a month, complaining that she wouldn't put out.
In the film, the college boys brag about which girls put out, and the heroine makes them regret it.
Note
It began as American slang, and it is usually said of a woman, often with contempt. The partner, when named, follows for, as in Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (1961): "putting out for anyone but their husbands". Because it judges as much as it describes, it can land as an insult even when meant as a joke.
12
from competitionphrasal verbtransitive
To eliminate a team or player from a competition.
A late goal put the defending champions out of the tournament.
The underdogs put out the top seed in the second round.
Similareliminate
Note
It works the way knock out does, with of for the event: put out of the cup in the first round. In Tom Fordyce's BBC Sport report on the 2011 Rugby World Cup, England's win "almost certainly put Scotland out", a whole side gone from the tournament, unlike the baseball and cricket meaning, where one batter is out and play goes on.
13
fielding statnoun · put-out
Alternative spelling of putout.
The center fielder's diving catch was his third put-out of the game.
The catcher was credited with the put-out when he tagged the runner at the plate.
Note
The hyphenated put-out is a variant of putout, the solid spelling baseball writing normally uses, and it is often counted a misspelling of it. Only the noun closes up: the shortstop puts out the runner, in two words, and is credited with the putout, in one. As a statistic, it counts the outs a fielder caused directly.
14
unconsciousphrasal verbtransitive
To knock someone out or make them unconscious, as with a blow in boxing or a drug in medicine.
The anesthetist put the patient out before the surgeons began.
A single right hook put the challenger out in the second round.
Similaranesthetize, sedate
Note
Boxing and the operating room share it: a punch puts a fighter out, and an anesthetist puts a patient out before surgery. In the ring it can blur with elimination from a competition, so a boxer put out in the second round might be out cold or merely out of the tournament; the rest of the sentence decides.
15
eyephrasal verbtransitive
To blind an eye by destroying or seriously injuring it.
Don't run with that stick, or you'll put someone's eye out.
In the old legend, the king's enemies put out his eyes so that he could never rule again.
16
set sailphrasal verbintransitive
To set out or head off, especially to leave port and set sail.
The fishing fleet put out to sea before dawn.
Early Monday the wagons put out for the railroad town.
Similarleave, depart, go (entry)
Note
Sailors' usage sets the pattern: a ship puts out to sea, or puts out from a harbor, and takes no object, because the vessel itself is what leaves. On land the same verb sets travelers going, with for naming the goal: in O. Henry's "The Missing Chord", Uncle Cal puts out for San Antone on the last wagonload of wool.
17
from officephrasal verbtransitive
To remove an official or leader from office.
Voters put the mayor out of office after a single term.
The army put the president out of power in a bloodless coup.
Similardepose
Oppositeinstall

Practice

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Origin

Deverbal from put out.