put
put
Pronunciation
/pʊt/.
put:
/p/ - voiceless bilabial plosive
/ʊ/ - near-close near-back rounded vowel
/t/ - voiceless alveolar plosive
Word Form Variations
As a Verb:
Base form (Infinitive): put
Example: I want to put the book on the shelf.
Present Simple (third person singular): puts
Example: He puts the dishes away every night.
Past Simple: put
Example: She put her keys on the table an hour ago.
Past Participle: put
Example: They have put a lot of effort into this project.
Present Participle / Gerund: putting
Example: He is putting on his shoes. / Putting others first is a good quality.
As a Noun:
The noun "put" is less common in everyday language but is primarily used in financial contexts.
Singular: put (referring to a "put option" in finance, which is a right to sell an asset at a specified price)
Example: He bought a put to hedge his investment.
Plural: puts
Example: The trader is considering buying several puts on that stock.
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Verb
To cause something or someone to be in a particular place or position.
Example: Please put the groceries on the counter.
Synonyms: place, set, lay, position, situate, deposit
Antonyms: remove, take (off/out), withdraw, extract
To express or state something in words; to articulate an idea or feeling.
Example: She put her thoughts into a clear and concise email.
Synonyms: state, express, articulate, phrase, word, formulate
Antonyms: withhold, suppress, silence, hide, conceal
To cause someone or something to enter a particular state or condition.
Example: The news put her in a good mood.
Synonyms: make, render, cause to be, bring (into)
Antonyms: keep (out of), prevent (from), rescue (from)
To apply or subject something to a particular use, test, or process.
Example: They decided to put their new theory to the test.
Synonyms: apply, subject, submit, utilize, employ
Antonyms: exempt, spare, withhold (from)
To impose a burden, responsibility, or obligation on someone.
Example: Don't put too much pressure on yourself.
Synonyms: impose, levy, assign, task, burden
Antonyms: relieve, free, release, exempt
Noun
(Finance) A contractual option giving the holder the right, but not the obligation, to sell an asset at a specified price (the strike price) within a specific timeframe or on a specific date.
Example: He bought a put option to protect against a decline in the stock's value.
Synonyms: (financial term) sell option
Antonyms: call (option)
(Slang/Informal, less common) An act of pushing or throwing something, often with some force.
Example: He gave the box a strong put and it slid across the floor.
Synonyms: push, shove, thrust, throw, heave
Antonyms: pull, retrieve, draw
Adjective
Note: "Put" is not typically used as an adjective on its own in standard English. However, it appears in compound adjectives or past participle phrases acting adjectivally.
Fixed or established in a particular place or condition (when used as a past participle acting adjectivally).
Example: The put-together puzzle lay on the table. (Here, "put-together" acts as an adjective describing the puzzle.)
Synonyms: placed, set, positioned, arranged, assembled
Antonyms: removed, dislodged, scattered, disassembled
Examples of Use
Books:
"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get." (Michael Phelps, No Limits: The Will to Succeed, October 2009)
"Every story I create, I put a little bit of myself into it, a little bit of my soul." (Roald Dahl, Matilda, October 1988)
Newspapers:
"The government has announced plans to put more police officers on the streets to tackle rising crime." (The Guardian)
"Analysts put the chances of a recession at 60% in the coming year." (The Wall Street Journal)
Online Publications:
"How to Put Your Best Foot Forward in a Job Interview." (Harvard Business Review Online)
"Scientists put new AI model to the test for predicting climate patterns." (Nature.com)
Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
Film: "Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" (From the film Jerry Maguire, December 1996)
Music: "And it's a hard life, put your feet up, give a little love." (Queen, "A Kind of Magic," June 1986)
Television: "We need to put the pieces of this puzzle together to catch the killer." (From a dialogue in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, various episodes)
Video Games: "You've been put on notice, commander. The enemy is advancing." (From in-game dialogue in StarCraft II, July 2010)
General Public Discourse:
"I need to put away the laundry before it wrinkles." (Common household conversation)
"They decided to put off the meeting until next week due to scheduling conflicts." (Workplace discussion)
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket." (Common idiom/advice)
"He tried to put on a brave face despite the difficult news." (Observation about someone's demeanor)
10 Quotes Using Put
"Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." (Benjamin Franklin)
"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get." (Michael Phelps)
"Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind." (John F. Kennedy)
"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." (Abraham Lincoln)
"A woman is like a tea bag – you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." (Eleanor Roosevelt)
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." (Henry David Thoreau)
"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." (Dolly Parton)
"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process." (Vincent Van Gogh)
"He who puts out his hand to stop the wheel of history will have his fingers crushed." (Lech Walesa)
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." (Aristotle)
Etymology
The word "put" has a somewhat debated but fascinating origin. It comes to us from Old English, which is the earliest form of the English language, spoken before about 1150 AD.
The earliest known uses of "put" or its ancestors in Old English hinted at meanings like "to push," "to thrust," or "to shove." For example, the Old English word "pūtian" (or "potian") meant something similar to "to push out" or "to goad." We can see this original sense in related words like "potter" (meaning to poke or dabble). There was also a related Old English word, "pȳtan", which specifically meant "to put out" something like eyes (to gouge them).
Over time, the meaning broadened. From simply pushing or thrusting, it evolved to mean "to move a thing physically so as to place it in some situation." This is closer to how we commonly use "put" today – to place something somewhere. The noun form of "put," referring to the act of throwing a heavy weight, also appeared around the 1300s, suggesting a connection to those earlier "pushing" or "thrusting" senses.
So, while the exact, ultimate root of "put" is a little uncertain, we know its journey began in Old English with the idea of forceful movement, which then softened and expanded to include the idea of placing something.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Put
Here's a list of phrases and idioms using "put":
Put an end to (to stop something)
Put out (to extinguish; to inconvenience; to publish)
Put up with (to tolerate)
Put away (to store; to consume a lot of food or drink)
Put down (to criticize; to suppress; to write down)
Put on (to wear; to stage a performance; to deceive)
Put off (to postpone; to deter)
Put one's foot down (to take a firm stand)
Put all one's eggs in one basket (to risk everything on a single venture)
Put one's heart into something (to do something with great effort and passion)
Put words in someone's mouth (to falsely attribute statements to someone)
Put a brave face on it (to pretend to be brave or cheerful despite difficulty)
Put someone in their place (to humble someone)
Put to the test (to assess the effectiveness or quality of something)
Put a stop to (to bring something to an end)
Put on a show (to make a public display or performance)
Put out feelers (to discreetly explore opinions or possibilities)
Put one's money where one's mouth is (to back up one's words with action or money)
Put up a fight (to resist or struggle)
Put down roots (to settle permanently in a place)
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of put from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
