put away

British  

verb

1. to return (something) to the correct or proper place

   he put away his books

2. to save

   to put away money for the future

3. to lock up in a prison, mental institution, etc

   they put him away for twenty years

4. to eat or drink, esp in large amounts

5. to put to death, because of old age or illness

   the dog had to be put away

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put away Idioms  

1. Place in a designated spot for storage; also, place out of reach. For example, Please put away your clothes , or This young tennis player can really put away the ball . Also see set aside , def. 1.

2. Renounce, discard, as in Put away all those negative thoughts . [Late 1300s]

3. Consume quickly, ingest readily, as in He put away his dinner in just a few minutes . [ Colloquial ; late 1800s]

4. Confine to a mental health facility, as in The doctor said we had to put her away . [ Colloquial ; late 1800s]

5. Kill, as in The vet put our old cat away . [ Colloquial ; late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

You can put away pretax money in these accounts, have it grow tax-free and then use it tax-free for qualified medical expenses.

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

Let’s say you want to have $6,000 put away by 2029.

From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026

In the evenings, Maya Angelou cleaned and put away all her dishes before she sat with what she had written that morning.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026

Sure, it’s easier to load and unload the dishwasher and put away the laundry yourself, but we miss the opportunity if we don’t bring the next generation into the labor.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026

Peach meticulously put away the pickles, the butter, the biscuits.

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

Related Words

• polish off
• put down