put down
verb
- To insult, belittle, or demean.
"They frequently put down their little sister for walking slowly."
- (of 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."
- To euthanize (an animal).
"Rex was in so much pain, they had to put him down."
- To write (something).
"Put down the first thing you think of on this piece of paper."
- (of a telephone) To terminate a call; to hang up.
"Don't put the phone down. I want a quick word with him, too."
- To add a name to a list.
"I've put myself down for the new Spanish conversation course."
- To make prices, or taxes, lower.
"BP are putting petrol and diesel down in what could be the start of a price war."
- To place a baby somewhere to sleep.
"I had just put Mary down when you rang. So now she's crying again."
- (of an aircraft) To land.
"The pilot managed to put down in a nearby farm field."
- To drop someone off, or let them out of a vehicle.
"The taxi put him down outside the hotel."
- To cease, temporarily or permanently, reading (a book).
"I was unable to put down The Stand: it was that exciting."
noun
- An insult or barb; a snide or demeaning remark.
"When he called you a know-it-all, he meant it as a put-down."
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