putting

Pluralputtings (some meanings)

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of put.

   The mayor is putting new safety measures in place this week.

   Putting the blame on others rarely solves the problem.

   Note

   The form that carries put through its continuous tenses and its gerund uses, still taking the base verb's object: putting the blame, putting the question. The final t doubles, so it shares its spelling with the golfer's putting, which comes from putt. Context tells them apart on the page, and the vowel tells them apart in speech. Every meaning of put survives here unchanged, from placing to expressing to estimating.

2. 2
   PUT-ing/ˈpʌtɪŋ/

   verb

   Present participle and gerund of putt.

   He was putting for par on the eighteenth hole.

   Putting against the slope, she badly misjudged the speed.

   Note

   The golfer's participle appears in phrases like putting for par and putting against the slope, where for names the score riding on the stroke. The verb putt has other lives as well: making a putting sound, moving along slowly, and, in slang, taking a motorcycle ride. Here, though, the word belongs to the green. Its spelling twin is the participle of put.

3. 3
   PUT-ing/ˈpʌtɪŋ/

   noununcountable

   A short-range version of golf, played with a putter, in which the ball is tapped gently into holes.

   Putting is a popular pastime for families on vacation.

   The resort added a putting area beside the main fairway.

   Note

   Here the word names the pastime rather than the stroke: a game played with a putter alone over short holes. It usually stands without an article ("putting is popular") and often sits before another noun, as in a putting area. Keep it apart from putting as a golfer's skill. This is what families play on vacation, not how well a professional rolls the ball.

4. 4
   PUT-ing/ˈpʌtɪŋ/

   noununcountable

   The act of striking the golf ball with a putter to roll it across the green toward the hole.

   Her putting on the final hole cost her the match.

   Coaches stress that putting often accounts for a large share of the strokes in a round.

   Note

   Golf treats this as a skill to be judged, much like driving: a player's putting can be steady or shaky. It is usually uncountable, so you say "her putting was off," not "a putting." A single stroke on the green is a putt. The same verb gives the putting green and the putter.

5. 5
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The action or result of placing, setting, or otherwise positioning something.

   The deliberate putting of the question to the board ended the discussion.

   His habitual putting of the key under the mat proved a costly mistake.

   Similarplacing, placement, positioning, setting

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