putter

¹ American  

[puht-er] / ˈpʌt ər /

verb (used without object)

putters, present (3rd person singular) puttered, past participle, past puttering present participle

1. to busy or occupy oneself in a leisurely, casual, or ineffective manner.

   to putter in the garden.

2. to move or go in a specified manner with ineffective action or little energy or purpose.

   to putter about the house on a rainy day.

3. to move or go slowly or aimlessly; loiter.

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noun

1. puttering or ineffective action; dawdling.

verb phrase

1. putter away to spend or fill in a random, inconsequential, or unproductive way; fritter away; waste.

   We puttered the morning away.

putter ² American  

[puht-er] / ˈpʌt ər /

noun

Golf.

1. a person who putts.

2. a club with a relatively short, stiff shaft and a wooden or iron head, used in putting.

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putter ³ American  

[poot-er] / ˈpʊt ər /

noun

1. a person or thing that puts.

2. Track. a shot-putter.

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putter ¹ British  

/ ˈpʌtə /

verb

1. (intr;often foll by about or around) to busy oneself in a desultory though agreeable manner

2. (intr;often foll by along or about) to move with little energy or direction

   to putter about town

3. to waste (time)

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noun

1. the act of puttering

putter ² British  

/ ˈpʌtə /

noun

1. a club for putting, usually having a solid metal head

2. a golfer who putts

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putter ³ British  

/ ˈpʊtə /

noun

1. a person who puts

   the putter of a question

2. a person who puts the shot

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• putteringly
  adverb
• putterer
  noun

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have puttered
  perfect
• has puttered
  perfect 3rd person singular
• are puttering
  progressive
• has been puttering
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• is puttering
  progressive 3rd person singular
• have been puttering
  perfect progressive
• am puttering
  progressive 1st person singular
• putters
  singular 3rd person
• puttering
  participle

Past

• had puttered
  perfect
• was puttering
  progressive singular
• were puttering
  progressive plural
• had been puttering
  perfect progressive
• puttered
  simple
• puttered
  participle

Future

• will putter
  simple
• will have puttered
  perfect
• will be puttering
  progressive
• will have been puttering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of putter¹

First recorded in 1825–30; variant of potter ²

Origin of putter²

First recorded in 1740–50; putt + -er ¹

Origin of putter³

First recorded in 1570–90; put + -er ¹

Explanation

A golfer who hits the ball very gently close to the hole is a putter. The club used to do this is also a putter. But to putter is to poke around aimlessly, maybe watch a little golf on TV. In golf, the putter is the club with the flat face, and sometimes with a slightly bent shaft. When you hit the ball with a putter, you putt. If you putter, it's something completely different — it means you make yourself busy without accomplishing anything huge. You might putter around the house on Saturday afternoon, filling the dishwasher and flipping through a magazine, for example. The golfing meaning comes from a Scottish word for "push or shove."

Example Sentences

“It was hard. It was a grind. Putter bailed me out a lot. Short game bailed me out.’

From Seattle Times • Feb. 10, 2024

Putter, who heats and cools his five-bedroom home with a heat pump.

From Washington Times • May 2, 2023

“My wife was skeptical that the house would stay warm without some sort of fire burning in the basement,” Putter said.

From Washington Times • May 2, 2023

After she was done writing the book, Niemi managed to make contact with her cousin — David Putter, the son of Nurmi and Welles — via Ancestry.com.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2021

At noon time it goes "Putter, putter, putter," and at bed-time, "Kuddle-kiddie, kuddle-kiddie."

From Vignettes of San Francisco by Bailey, Almira

Related Words

• loiter