# put

Pronunciation: say "PUUT" /pʊt/

## Verb

1. To place something or someone physically somewhere.
   - Simple: To move something to a place and leave it there.
   - _Put the milk back in the fridge._
   - _He puts his keys in the same bowl every night._
2. To place someone or something into a given state, condition, or relationship.
   - Simple: To cause something to be in a certain state or situation.
   - _The news put her in a bad mood._
   - _They put the plan into action at once._
3. To place something abstract on someone or something; to attach, attribute or assign.
   - Simple: To place something you cannot touch, such as blame or pressure, on someone or something.
   - _They put a tax on sugar._
   - _You can't put a price on peace of mind._
4. To spend or invest resources in something, whether money, thought, time, energy, or effort; typically used with into.
   - Simple: To give money, time, work, or thought to something, usually with into.
   - _Investors often put billions into startups that have yet to sell a single product._
   - _Clearly a lot of thought was put into the design of this kitchen._
5. To set before someone for judgment, acceptance or rejection.
   - Simple: To offer a question, idea, or plan to people so that they can answer it or decide about it.
   - _She put the proposal to the whole board._
   - _Put the motion to a vote._
6. To express something in a particular way.
   - Simple: To say something in a certain way.
   - _How shall I put this? The dog is gone._
   - _She puts things very plainly._
7. To estimate or calculate something at a particular figure.
   - Simple: To guess or work out that something is a certain amount.
   - _Analysts put the losses at a billion._
   - _I would put the distance at about a mile._
9. In athletics, to throw a heavy ball with a pushing motion from the shoulder, as in the shot put. Not to be confused with putt.
   - Simple: In athletics, to throw a heavy ball by pushing it from your shoulder.
   - _Few athletes can put a shot over twenty-two meters._
   - _He puts the shot with his left hand._
12. Of a vessel or its crew, to steer or direct its course; to go.
   - Simple: Used about a ship or its sailors, to head in a certain direction.
   - _They put out from the harbor before the storm._
   - _The ferry put in at the island for an hour._
8. To write something down or fill it in at a particular place, for example an answer on a test or the details a form asks for.
   - Simple: To write or type something in a certain space, like your name on a form.
   - _Put your initials beside each change before you sign the lease._
   - _Under 'occupation,' he had put 'retired,' though he still consulted two days a week._

## Noun

10. In finance, an option giving the right to sell a stock or other asset at a fixed price by or on a set date; a put option.
   - Simple: A deal that lets you sell shares or other assets at a fixed price, by or on a set date.
   - _Puts rise in value when the market falls._
   - _The fund used a put to limit its losses._
11. The act of putting; a push or thrust.
   - Simple: A push or a throw, for example of a ball.
   - _A clumsy put sent the shot wide._
   - _Each put is measured from the inside edge of the circle to where the shot first lands._

## Adjective

17. Remaining in one spot instead of moving away or leaving, used after a verb like stay, sit, or keep. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Not moving from where you are. Used after words like stay, sit, or keep.
   - _Most of the fans stayed put in their seats through the long rain delay._
   - _Despite rising rents, the couple decided to stay put instead of moving to the suburbs._

## Verb

13. To lay something down in surrender; to yield it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To give up or hand over something, such as your life.
14. To incite, urge, constrain or oblige someone. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To push or force someone to do something.

## Noun

15. A chap, particularly one who is odd or getting on in years; a duffer. *(obsolete)* (pronounced: say "PUT" /pʌt/)
   - Simple: An old word for a fellow, especially an odd or elderly one.
16. A prostitute. *(obsolete)* (pronounced: say "PUT" /pʌt/)
   - Simple: An old word for a prostitute.

## Other meanings

- (verb) In finance, to sell an asset to the other party at the price fixed by a put option.
- (verb) In mining, to move coal underground, for example from the working face to the tramway.
- (verb) To play a card or hand in the card game of the same name.
- (noun) An old card game.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–14, 17** — Old English had putian ("to push, put out"), known only from a related word, and potian ("to push, thrust, strike, goad"). Putian gave Middle English putten, and potian may have fed into it too. Both trace to Proto-Germanic *putōną, meaning "to stick, stab," a word of uncertain origin. A possible source is a Proto-Indo-European root *bud- ("to shoot, sprout"). Dutch poten ("to plant") and Danish putte ("to put") are cognates.
**Meaning 15** — Nobody knows the source of this word. It is perhaps related to Welsh pwt, which Welsh may in turn have taken from English butt, meaning a stub or the thicker end of something.
**Meaning 16** — From Old French pute.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/put (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).