put someone on to

present singular third person puts someone on to · participle present putting someone on to · alternative put someone onto

1. idiomaticTo show; to draw someone's attention to something useful or interesting.

   College put him on to jazz, and he worshipped at the altar of Coltrane and Davis.

   2020 January 8, Jenny Stevens, “Doors drummer John Densmore: 'It took me years to forgive Jim Morrison'”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Jun 2023

   3 more examples

   O.D.'d, the coroner said. But Meg thought there was more to it. And there was. Much more. Thinking this might be a lead, Meg's friend Joanna, a lesbian and a prostitute, put her on to a bar called Kinky's. Kinky's is where pre-pubescent girls got recruited for kiddy porn films and working the streets.

   1989 May 6, Liz Galst, “Meet Meg Lacey, Private Heat”, in Gay Community News, page 7

   My colleague John Eligon put me on to this excellent video explanation of and recipe for doubles, one of Trinidad and Tobago's greatest foods. That's on the weekend docket as well!

   2020 December 11, Sam Sifton, “What to Cook This Weekend”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Nov 2022

   It's time to name Questor's tip of the year and as usual we have sought the views of the fund manager who put us on to the best performer of last year under our "Follow the Money" banner.

   2023 January 11, Richard Evans, “Our tip of the year is 'very cheap, very unloved and highly profitable'”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Jan 2023

   Antonyms: put off