[put on the back burner] See: ON ICE.

[put on the dog]{v. phr.} To behave ostentatiously in terms of dress and manner. •/"Stop putting on the dog with me," Sue cried at Roy. "I knew the real you from way hack!"/

[put on the line] See: LAY ON THE LINE.

[put on the map]{v. phr.} To make (a place) well known. •/The first successful climb of Mount Matterhorn put Zermatt, Switzerland, on the map./ •/Shakespeare put his hometown of Stratford-on-Avon on the map./

[put out]{v.} 1. To make a flame or light stop burning; extinguish; turn off. •/Please put the light out when you leave the room./ •/The firemen put out the blaze./ 2. To prepare for the public; produce; make. •/For years he had put out a weekly newspaper./ •/It is a small restaurant, which puts out an excellent dinner./ 3. To invest or loan money. •/He put out all his spare money at 4 percent or better./ 4. To make angry; irritate; annoy. •/It puts the teacher out to be lied to./ •/Father was put out when Jane spilled grape juice on his new suit./ 5. {informal} To cause inconvenience to; bother. •/He put himself out to make things pleasant for us./ •/Will it put you out if I borrow your pen?/ Compare: GO OUT OF ONE’S WAY. 6. To retire from play in baseball. •/The runner was put out at first base./ 7. To go from shore; leave. •/A Coast Guard boat put out through the waves./ 8. {vulgar}, {avoidable} Said of women easy and ready to engage in sexual intercourse. •/It is rumored that Hermione gets her promotions as fast as she does because she puts out./

[put out of action] See: OUT OF ACTION.

[put out of the way]{v. phr.} To kill. •/When people spoke against the dictator, he had them put out of the way./ •/The old dog was very sick, and Father had the animal doctor put him out of the way./

[put over]{v.} 1. To wait to a later time; postpone. •/They put over the meeting to the following Tuesday./ Syn.: PUT OFF. 2. {informal} To make a success of; complete. •/He put over a complex and difficult business deal./ Syn.: BRING OFF, PUT ACROSS, SLIP OVER. 3. {informal} To practice deception; trick; fool. — Used with "on". •/George thought he was putting something over on the teacher when he said he was absent the day before because his mother was sick and needed him./ •/Tom really slipped one over on us when he came to the Halloween party dressed as a witch./

[put someone on]{v.} To play a joke on someone by saying or doing things that are only pretense; kid. •/When the voice on the phone told Mrs. Jones she had won a $10,000 prize, she thought someone was putting her on./

[put that in your pipe and smoke it]{v. phr.}, {informal} To understand something told you; accept something as fact or reality; not try to change it. — Usually used as a command, normally only in speech, and often considered rude. •/People don’t vote against Santa Claus, and you might as well put that in your pipe and smoke it./ •/I am not going to do that and you can put that in your pipe and smoke it./

[put the bite on]{v. phr.}, {slang} To ask (for money, favors, etc.) •/John put the bite on his friend for several tickets to the dance./ •/Willie Mays put the bite on the Giants for a large raise./

[put the cart before the horse] See: CART BEFORE THE HORSE.

[put their heads together] or [lay their heads together] {v. phr.}, {informal} To plan or consider things together; discuss something as a group; talk it over. •/They put their heads together and decided on a gift./ •/We laid our heads together and decided to have a picnic./

[put through]{v. phr.} 1. To carry out; arrange. •/If Jim can put through one more financial transaction like this one, we will be rich./ 2. To connect (said of telephone calls). •/The telephone operator had to put me through to Zambia as there is no direct dialing there yet./

[put through one’s paces]{v. phr.}, {informal} To test the different abilities and skills of a person or a thing; call for a show of what one can do. •/He put his new car through its paces./ •/Many different problems put the new mayor through his paces in the first months of his term./

[put to bed]{v. phr.} 1. To put to rest for the night. •/Father put the three children to bed./ •/The boy seemed ill, so the nurse put him to bed./ 2. {informal} To complete preparations and print. •/The newspaper was put to bed at 1:15 A.M./ •/The pressroom was late in putting the sports section to bed./

[put to it]{adj. phr.} Hard pressed; having trouble; in difficulty; puzzled. •/When he lost his job, he was rather put to it for a while to provide for his family./ •/The boy was put to it to answer the teacher’s question./

[put to rights] or [set to rights] {v. phr.}, {informal} To put in good order; clean up. •/It took the company a long time to put the office to rights after the fire./ •/It took Mrs. Smith an hour to set the room to rights after the party./

[put to sea]{v. phr.} To start a voyage. •/The captain said the ship would put to sea at six in the morning./ •/In the days of sailing ships, putting to sea depended on the tides./

[put to shame]{v. phr.} 1. To disgrace. •/The cleanliness of European cities puts our cities to shame./ •/That filthy dump puts our town to shame./ 2. To do much better than surpass. •/Einstein put other physicists to shame when he proved his theory of relativity correct./

[put to sleep]{v. phr.} 1. To cause to fall asleep. •/Mother used to put us to sleep by telling us a good-night story and giving us a kiss./ 2. To kill with an injection (said of animals). •/Dr. Murphy, the veterinarian, put our sick, old dog to sleep./

[put to the sword]{v. phr.}, {literary} To kill (people) in war, especially with a sword. •/The Romans put their enemies to the sword./ •/In some wars captives have been put to the sword./

[put to use]{v. phr.} To use. •/During the early part of the Korean war the cooks and office workers of the U.S. Army were put to use in battle./ •/Henry decided to put his dictionary to use./ •/I wish you’d put the lawn mower to use!/

[put two and two together]{v. phr.} To make decisions based on available proofs; reason from the known facts; conclude; decide. •/He had put two and two together and decided where they had probably gone./ •/It was just a mater of putting two and two together: the facts seemed to permit only one decision./

[put up]{v.} 1a. To make and pack (especially a lunch or medicine); get ready; prepare. •/Every morning Mother puts up lunches for the three children./ •/The druggist put up the medicine that the doctor had prescribed./ Compare: MAKE UP(1). 1b. To put food into jars or cans to save; can. •/Mother is putting up peaches in jars./ 1c. To store away for later use. •/The farmer put up three tons of hay for the winter./ 2. To put in place; put (something) where it belongs. •/After he unpacked the car, John put it up./ •/After the hard ride, the doctor gave the horse to the stable boy to put up./ •/After the battle, the knight put up his sword./ Syn.: PUT AWAY. 3. To suggest that (someone) be chosen a member, officer, or official. •/The club decided to take in another member, and Bill put up Charles./ — Often used with "for". •/The Republicans put Mr. Williams up for mayor./ 4. To put (hair) a special way; arrange. •/Aunt May puts up her hair in curlers every night./ Compare: DO UP(3a). 5. To place on sale; offer for sale. •/She put the house up for sale./ 6a. To provide lodging for; furnish a room to. •/The visitor was put up in the home of Mr. Wilson./ •/They put Frank up at a good hotel./ 6b. To rent or get shelter; take lodging; stay in a place to sleep. •/The traveler put up at a motel./ •/We put up with friends on our trip to Canada./ 7. To make; engage in. •/He put up a good fight against his sickness./ Compare: CARRY ON. 8. To furnish (money) or something needed; pay for. •/He put up the money to build a hotel./