put-put
or putt-putt
the sound made by a small internal-combustion engine or imitative of its operation.
Informal. a small internal-combustion engine, or something, as a boat or model airplane, equipped with one: the sound of distant put-puts on the lake.
Informal. to operate with sounds suggesting a put-put, as a small motor or motor-driven device.
Origin of put-put
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use put-put in a sentence
The two boys distinctly could hear the putt-putt-putt of a gasoline engine.
Dan Carter and the River Camp | Mildred A. WirtThe engine coughed, sputtered, and then settled down to a steady putt-putt.
Ralestone Luck | Andre NortonAbove the patter of the rain he heard the putt-putt of a motor launch.
The Pagan Madonna | Harold MacGrath
British Dictionary definitions for put-put
/ (ˈpʌtˌpʌt) informal /
a light chugging or popping sound, as made by a petrol engine
a vehicle powered by an engine making such a sound
(intr) to make or travel along with such a sound
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse