put down

UK/ˈpʊtˌdaʊn/US/ˈpʊtˌdaʊn/

phraseB12 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To put down is to place something on a surface. Also, quite differently, to insult somebody.

The physical sense is plain, and putting a book down is the opposite of picking it up. The insulting sense is where the noun a put-down comes from, meaning a remark designed to make somebody feel small. There are three more: putting down a deposit means paying it, putting down an animal means having it destroyed, and putting somebody down as something means judging them to be it.

Definitions of put down

1phraseput downTo place something on a surface.B1
“Put down that knife before you say another word.”
2phrasecriticiseTo criticise someone in a belittling way.B2
“He would put down anybody who disagreed.”

Where it comes from

put-down Deverbal from put down.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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