Etymology

shot put

Today it means: An athletics event where a competitor must hurl a heavy metal orb ("shot") as far as possible. Because of the weight of the ball this is done with a pushing ("putting") motion rather than a throwing motion. Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

Compound of shot (noun) + put (verb).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.