To put down

Put Put, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Put}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Putting}.] [AS. potian to thrust: cf. Dan. putte to put, to put into, Fries. putje; perh. akin to W. pwtio to butt, poke, thrust; cf. also Gael. put to push, thrust, and E. potter, v. i.] 1. To move in any direction; to impel; to thrust; to push; -- nearly obsolete, except with adverbs, as with by (to put by = to thrust aside; to divert); or with forth (to put forth = to thrust out). [1913 Webster]

His chief designs are . . . to put thee by from thy spiritual employment. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]

2. To bring to a position or place; to place; to lay; to set; figuratively, to cause to be or exist in a specified relation, condition, or the like; to bring to a stated mental or moral condition; as, to put one in fear; to put a theory in practice; to put an enemy to fight. [1913 Webster]

This present dignity, In which that I have put you. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

I will put enmity between thee and the woman. --Gen. iii. 15. [1913 Webster]

He put no trust in his servants. --Job iv. 18. [1913 Webster]

When God into the hands of their deliverer Puts invincible might. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

In the mean time other measures were put in operation. --Sparks. [1913 Webster]

3. To attach or attribute; to assign; as, to put a wrong construction on an act or expression. [1913 Webster]

4. To lay down; to give up; to surrender. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

No man hath more love than this, that a man put his life for his friends. --Wyclif (John xv. 13). [1913 Webster]

5. To set before one for judgment, acceptance, or rejection; to bring to the attention; to offer; to state; to express; figuratively, to assume; to suppose; -- formerly sometimes followed by that introducing a proposition; as, to put a question; to put a case. [1913 Webster]

Let us now put that ye have leave. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

Put the perception and you put the mind. --Berkeley. [1913 Webster]

These verses, originally Greek, were put in Latin. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

All this is ingeniously and ably put. --Hare. [1913 Webster]

6. To incite; to entice; to urge; to constrain; to oblige. [1913 Webster]

These wretches put us upon all mischief. --Swift. [1913 Webster]

Put me not use the carnal weapon in my own defense. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

Thank him who puts me, loath, to this revenge. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

7. To throw or cast with a pushing motion ``overhand,'' the hand being raised from the shoulder; a practice in athletics; as, to put the shot or weight. [1913 Webster]

8. (Mining) To convey coal in the mine, as from the working to the tramway. --Raymond. [1913 Webster]

{Put case}, formerly, an elliptical expression for, put or suppose the case to be. [1913 Webster]

Put case that the soul after departure from the body may live. --Bp. Hall. [1913 Webster]

{To put about} (Naut.), to turn, or change the course of, as a ship.

{To put away}. (a) To renounce; to discard; to expel. (b) To divorce.

{To put back}. (a) To push or thrust backwards; hence, to hinder; to delay. (b) To refuse; to deny. [1913 Webster]

Coming from thee, I could not put him back. --Shak. [1913 Webster] (c) To set, as the hands of a clock, to an earlier hour. (d) To restore to the original place; to replace.

{To put by}. (a) To turn, set, or thrust, aside. ``Smiling put the question by.'' --Tennyson. (b) To lay aside; to keep; to sore up; as, to put by money.

{To put down}. (a) To lay down; to deposit; to set down. (b) To lower; to diminish; as, to put down prices. (c) To deprive of position or power; to put a stop to; to suppress; to abolish; to confute; as, to put down rebellion or traitors. [1913 Webster]

Mark, how a plain tale shall put you down. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Sugar hath put down the use of honey. --Bacon. [1913 Webster] (d) To subscribe; as, to put down one's name.

{To put forth}. (a) To thrust out; to extend, as the hand; to cause to come or push out; as, a tree puts forth leaves. (b) To make manifest; to develop; also, to bring into action; to exert; as, to put forth strength. (c) To propose, as a question, a riddle, and the like. (d) To publish, as a book.

{To put forward}. (a) To advance to a position of prominence or responsibility; to promote. (b) To cause to make progress; to aid. (c) To set, as the hands of a clock, to a later hour.

{To put in}. (a) To introduce among others; to insert; sometimes, to introduce with difficulty; as, to put in a word while others are discoursing. (b) (Naut.) To conduct into a harbor, as a ship. (c) (Law) To place in due form before a court; to place among the records of a court. --Burrill. (d) (Med.) To restore, as a dislocated part, to its place.

{To put off}. (a) To lay aside; to discard; as, to put off a robe; to put off mortality. ``Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.'' --Ex. iii. 5. (b) To turn aside; to elude; to disappoint; to frustrate; to baffle. [1913 Webster]

I hoped for a demonstration, but Themistius hoped to put me off with an harangue. --Boyle. [1913 Webster]

We might put him off with this answer. --Bentley. [1913 Webster] (c) To delay; to defer; to postpone; as, to put off repentance. (d) To get rid of; to dispose of; especially, to pass fraudulently; as, to put off a counterfeit note, or an ingenious theory. (e) To push from land; as, to put off a boat.

{To put on} or {To put upon}. (a) To invest one's self with, as clothes; to assume. ``Mercury . . . put on the shape of a man.'' --L'Estrange. (b) To impute (something) to; to charge upon; as, to put blame on or upon another. (c) To advance; to promote. [Obs.] ``This came handsomely to put on the peace.'' --Bacon. (d) To impose; to inflict. ``That which thou puttest on me, will I bear.'' --2 Kings xviii. 14. (e) To apply; as, to put on workmen; to put on steam. (f) To deceive; to trick. ``The stork found he was put upon.'' --L'Estrange. (g) To place upon, as a means or condition; as, he put him upon bread and water. ``This caution will put them upon considering.'' --Locke. (h) (Law) To rest upon; to submit to; as, a defendant puts himself on or upon the country. --Burrill.

{To put out}. (a) To eject; as, to put out and intruder. (b) To put forth; to shoot, as a bud, or sprout. (c) To extinguish; as, to put out a candle, light, or fire. (d) To place at interest; to loan; as, to put out funds. (e) To provoke, as by insult; to displease; to vex; as, he was put out by my reply. [Colloq.] (f) To protrude; to stretch forth; as, to put out the hand. (g) To publish; to make public; as, to put out a pamphlet. (h) To confuse; to disconcert; to interrupt; as, to put one out in reading or speaking. (i) (Law) To open; as, to put out lights, that is, to open or cut windows. --Burrill. (j) (Med.) To place out of joint; to dislocate; as, to put out the ankle. (k) To cause to cease playing, or to prevent from playing longer in a certain inning, as in base ball. (l) to engage in sexual intercourse; -- used of women; as, she's got a great bod, but she doesn't put out. [Vulgar slang]

{To put over}. (a) To place (some one) in authority over; as, to put a general over a division of an army. (b) To refer. [1913 Webster]

For the certain knowledge of that truth I put you o'er to heaven and to my mother. --Shak. [1913 Webster] (c) To defer; to postpone; as, the court put over the cause to the next term. (d) To transfer (a person or thing) across; as, to put one over the river.

{To put the hand to} or {To put the hand unto}. (a) To take hold of, as of an instrument of labor; as, to put the hand to the plow; hence, to engage in (any task or affair); as, to put one's hand to the work. (b) To take or seize, as in theft. ``He hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods.'' --Ex. xxii. 11.

{To put through}, to cause to go through all conditions or stages of a progress; hence, to push to completion; to accomplish; as, he put through a measure of legislation; he put through a railroad enterprise. [U.S.]

{To put to}. (a) To add; to unite; as, to put one sum to another. (b) To refer to; to expose; as, to put the safety of the state to hazard. ``That dares not put it to the touch.'' --Montrose. (c) To attach (something) to; to harness beasts to. --Dickens.

{To put to a stand}, to stop; to arrest by obstacles or difficulties.

{To put to bed}. (a) To undress and place in bed, as a child. (b) To deliver in, or to make ready for, childbirth.

{To put to death}, to kill.

{To put together}, to attach; to aggregate; to unite in one.

{To put this and that} (or {two and two}) {together}, to draw an inference; to form a correct conclusion.

{To put to it}, to distress; to press hard; to perplex; to give difficulty to. ``O gentle lady, do not put me to 't.'' --Shak.

{To put to rights}, to arrange in proper order; to settle or compose rightly.

{To put to the sword}, to kill with the sword; to slay.

{To put to trial}, or {on trial}, to bring to a test; to try.

{To put trust in}, to confide in; to repose confidence in.

{To put up}. (a) To pass unavenged; to overlook; not to punish or resent; to put up with; as, to put up indignities. [Obs.] ``Such national injuries are not to be put up.'' --Addison. (b) To send forth or upward; as, to put up goods for sale. (d) To start from a cover, as game. ``She has been frightened; she has been put up.'' --C. Kingsley. (e) To hoard. ``Himself never put up any of the rent.'' --Spelman. (f) To lay side or preserve; to pack away; to store; to pickle; as, to put up pork, beef, or fish. (g) To place out of sight, or away; to put in its proper place; as, put up that letter. --Shak. (h) To incite; to instigate; -- followed by to; as, he put the lad up to mischief. (i) To raise; to erect; to build; as, to put up a tent, or a house. (j) To lodge; to entertain; as, to put up travelers.

{To put up a job}, to arrange a plot. [Slang] [1913 Webster]

Syn: To place; set; lay; cause; produce; propose; state.

Usage: {Put}, {Lay}, {Place}, {Set}. These words agree in the idea of fixing the position of some object, and are often used interchangeably. To put is the least definite, denoting merely to move to a place. To place has more particular reference to the precise location, as to put with care in a certain or proper place. To set or to lay may be used when there is special reference to the position of the object. [1913 Webster]