What does put mean?
Put is a basic English verb with unusually broad flexibility. At its most literal, it means to place or set something somewhere: put the cup on the table, put the key in your pocket, or put a child to bed. It can also mean to cause someone or something to enter a state, as in putting a plan into action or putting pressure on someone. With other prepositions, it expresses postponement (put off), estimation (put a price at), endurance (put up with), communication (put a question), and presentation for consideration (put forward a proposal). The verb is used constantly in formal, informal, and instructional contexts, making it especially useful for describing actions, changes of state, judgments, and arrangements. Its numerous phrasal-verb uses are worth learning individually, since their idiomatic meanings do not always follow directly from the literal wording.
verbTo place or set something somewhere, especially carefully or deliberately. It can also mean to cause something to enter a particular state or to express an idea or judgment.
- To place or set an object somewhere.
- To cause someone or something to enter a particular condition or situation.
- To express, state, or communicate an idea, opinion, question, or piece of information.
- To estimate or calculate a value, cost, time, or age.
- To cause something to happen or to be experienced in a particular way.
"She put the letter on the desk and went to make some tea."
"Please put your shoes by the door."
"The committee put forward a plan to reduce waste."
"I would put the cost at around two million dollars."
Put is one of English's most versatile verbs: with a changing preposition, it can describe setting something down, postponing it, expressing it, estimating it, or enduring it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does put come from?
The word comes from Middle English puten, meaning 'to thrust, place, or set,' which developed from an Old English Germanic verb associated with pushing or thrusting. It belongs to a wider Germanic family that includes forms in Dutch and German connected with pushing or putting. The modern verb was extended through English usage from physical placement to causal, expressive, and idiomatic meanings.
Related word forms
How put is actually used
Put is highly common in both formal and informal English. Phrasal uses such as put off, put up with, and put out are established idioms, and their meanings can differ substantially from the literal meanings of the individual words.
Easily confused with put
A putt is a golf stroke that rolls the ball toward the hole, while put generally means to place or cause something to be somewhere.