0 to move something or someone into the stated place, position, or direction: --
The prisoners were put up against (= moved into a position next to) a wall and shot.
If you put together (= mix) yellow and blue paint you get green.
If we put the chairs a little closer together (= move them nearer to each other), we should be able to get another one around the table.
Every night, she puts out her clothes (= takes them from where they are kept so that they are ready) for the next day.
Where have you put the keys?
1 to write something: --
It was an interesting article but I wish they'd put in more information (= included more information) about the costs.
He asked me to put my objections (down) on paper.
Put an X next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for.
2 to express something in words: --
You can't put a value on friendship (= say what it is worth).
Why do you always have to put things so crudely?
We're going to have to work very hard, but as Chris so succinctly put it, there's no gain without pain.
She wanted to tell him that she didn't want to see him any more, but she didn't know how to put it.
3 to cause someone or something to be in the stated condition or situation: --
I know she's gone forever, but I just can't put her out of my mind/head (= forget her).
I originally thought he was Australian, but he soon put me straight (= corrected me) and explained he was from New Zealand.
[ + adj ] How much did it cost to have the television put right (= repaired)?
Wilson was put out (of the competition) (= was defeated) by Clarke in the second round.
The terrorists were put on trial (= their case was judged in a court of law) six years after the bombing.
It's broken into so many pieces, it'll be impossible to put it back together again (= repair it).
This election is a chance for the country to put a new government in (= elect a new government).
4 to bring into operation; to cause to be used: --
They've got to put an end to/a stop to their fighting (= to stop fighting).
The president is trying to put through (= bring into operation) reforms of the country's economic system.
They put (= invested) a lot of money into the family business.
The more you put into something, the more you get out of it (= the harder you work at something, the more satisfying it is).
He put everything he had into (= he used all his abilities and strength in) the final game.
The new tax will put 15 percent on fuel prices (= increase them by 15 percent).
The government is expected to put a new tax on cars.
You know it was your fault, so don't try to put the blame on anyone else.
In the story of Sleeping Beauty, the wicked fairy puts a spell/curse ( US hex) on the baby princess.
The events of the last few weeks have put a real strain on him.
The school puts a lot of emphasis on teaching children to read and write.
When the drugs failed to cure her, she put her faith/trust in herbal medicine.
5 to judge something or someone in comparison with other similar things or people: --
But this does not help us very much in understanding their human significance without being put into a much broader social and historical context.
Some novel utterances may have been put together by combining individual words that have already been learned.
When the riff is put back within the context of the entire song, however, things get a bit more interesting.
It's just one of the many funky things that can happen when you put the needle to the groove.
It is this challenge that puts on the table new theoretical issues for social science and public policy.
In this paper, we put forward the environment as a first-order abstraction in multiagent systems.
If teachers have ever told you, that you don't put a comma before that, they were right.
They were then told to put the sounds together to say the whole word.