put down

Meanings

verbput down (third-person singular simple present puts down, present participle putting down, simple past and past participle put down)

present singular third person puts down · participle present putting down

idiomatictransitiveTo insult, belittle, or demean.
They frequently put down their little sister for walking slowly.
1 more example
People try to put us down / Just because we get around.
1965, The Who, My Generation
Antonyms: compliment, talk up
transitivebankingOf money as deposit, to pay.
We put down a $1,000 deposit.
To halt, eliminate, stop, or squelch, often by force.
The government quickly put down the insurrection.
2 more examples
22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Gameshttps://web.archive.org/web/20120323195428/http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/ For the 75 years since a district rebellion was put down, The Games have existed as an assertion of the Capital’s power, a winner-take-all contest that touts heroism and sacrifice—participants are called “tributes”— while pitting the districts against each other.
When the Nexus first arrived in Andromeda and an uprising arose among the desperate crew, it was William Spender who convinced clan leader Nakmor Morda to put down the mutineers. By all accounts, it did not go well.
2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Nexus: William Spender Codex entry
Synonyms: end, stop, eliminate, extinguish
euphemisticTo euthanize (an animal).
Rex was in so much pain, they had to put him down.
1 more example
A couple walking in Kirkleatham Woods, Redcar, heard whimpering and found the terrier-type animal in a mound of earth at about midday. It was rushed to a vet but its injuries were so serious it had to be put down.
2016, Dog found buried alive in Redcar with nail in head, BBC
Synonyms: put to sleep, euthanize
euphemisticTo execute (a person), especially extrajudicially.
The only thing left to do before putting the plan into action was checking the barracks for stragglers, and putting them down. She placed the first three bombs, then crept to the final door and opened it.
2023 October 12, HarryBlank, “Fire in the Hole”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 22 May 2024
Synonyms: execute, down, eliminate
To write (something).
Put down the first thing you think of on this piece of paper.
1 more example
I hope you don't mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you're in the world
1970, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, “Your Song”, in Elton John, performed by Elton John
To terminate a call on (a telephone); to hang up.
Don't put the phone down. I want a quick word with him, too.
1 more example
Ray eventually called at 7pm and took the school’s side. He sounded imperious and distant and made me even angrier. I told him he sounded just like my father, and put the phone down on him.
1992 June 24, Edwina Currie, Diary
Synonyms: hang up · Antonyms: pick up
To add a name to a list.
I've put myself down for the new Spanish conversation course.
Synonyms: register
IrelandUKTo make prices, or taxes, lower.
BP are putting petrol and diesel down in what could be the start of a price war.
idiomaticTo place a baby somewhere to sleep.
I had just put Mary down when you rang. So now she's crying again.
idiomaticTo give something as a reason for something else.
She put her long life down to daily meditation.
idiomaticaeronauticsOf an aircraft, to land.
The pilot managed to put down in a nearby farm field.
Synonyms: set down, touch down
idiomaticTo drop someone off, or let them out of a vehicle.
The taxi put him down outside the hotel.
Antonyms: pick up
idiomaticTo cease, temporarily or permanently, reading (a book).
I was unable to put down The Stand: it was that exciting.
USslangTo drink.
I put down two bottles of red wine.
obsoletemediaTo set type in lowercase; to switch type from capital to lowercase letters.
Antonyms: put up
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see put, down.
Why don't you put down your briefcase and stay awhile?
2 more examples
"There he is!" cried Mrs. Flanders, coming round the rock and covering the whole space of the beach in a few seconds. "What has he got hold of? Put it down, Jacob! Drop it this moment!
1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC
As she did so Fanny put down her book, stood up and stretched her arms, and at once Jessamy noticed a difference.
1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 105