put-down
noun
a landing of an aircraft.
put-down
American
[poot-doun]
/ ˈpʊtˌdaʊn /
Or
putdown
noun
put-downs
plural
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a landing of an aircraft.
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Informal.
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a disparaging, belittling, or snubbing remark.
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a remark or act intended to humiliate or embarrass someone.
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put down
British
verb
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to make a written record of
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to repress
to put down a rebellion
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to consider; account
they put him down for an ignoramus
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to attribute
I put the mistake down to his inexperience
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to put to death, because of old age or illness
the vet put the cat down
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to table on the agenda
the MPs put down a motion on the increase in crime
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to put (a baby) to bed
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to dismiss, reject, or humiliate
noun
put down
Idioms
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Write down; also, enter in a list. For example, Please put down my name for a free ticket , or Put me down as a subscriber . [Second half of 1500s]
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Bring to an end, repress, as in They managed to put down the rebellion in a single day , or We've got to put down these rumors about a takeover . [c. 1300]
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Kill a sick animal, as in The vet said the dog must be put down . [Mid-1500s] Also see put away , def. 5.
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Belittle, disparage, criticize, as in Her husband was always putting her down . [c. 1400] Also see run down , def. 6.
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Ascribe, attribute, as in We put her poor performance down to stage fright . [Late 1700s]
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Regard, classify, as in We put her down as a hypochondriac . [Mid-1800s]
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Pay a deposit, as in We put down $2,000 for the car .
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Store for future use, as in David put down ten cases of this year's Chablis . [Mid-1800s]
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Land in an aircraft; also, land an aircraft, as in What time will we put down at Heathrow ? or She put the plane down exactly on the runway . [c. 1930]
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Put a child to bed, as in The sitter said she'd put Brian down at 8:30 . [Second half of 1900s]
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of put-down
First recorded in 1960–65; noun use of verb phrase put down
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He also appeared in the 1998 remake of the monster movie “Godzilla” as the bumbling Mayor Ebert of New York — an unsubtle nod to film critic Roger Ebert, who took the put-down in stride.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 10, 2023
Seeking to break the ice at their first summit in Singapore, Trump told Kim the nickname wasn’t as much of a put-down as it sounded.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2023
The German accused the Dane of being "unsporting" and Magnussen responded with a withering put-down.
From BBC ● Nov. 17, 2022
He routinely denounces tiny, dry or flavorless offerings as “dead,” his put-down of choice, unless a wing is beyond awful, in which case it’s deemed “nasty.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2022
My comments must have struck Farmer as a put-down, because when I looked across the room his pale blue eyes were fixed on me.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
In 2024, the Amazon rainforest experienced its worst forest fires in over two decades, which the Copernicus Climate Change Service put down to "climate extremes and human activity".
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
A grill can be more than the place where dinner happens; it can become the center of the party, giving everyone a reason to pull up a chair, put down their phone and get involved.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
In some cities, first-time buyers typically put down more than 20%.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
It’s time to put down the orange slices, stop singing “Country Roads” and send in the electric guitars with briefcases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
He’d do it just as soon as he put down the things he was carrying in the hut.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
Trump's spokeswoman -- who is best known for her acid put-downs of journalists -- posted a picture of herself in a nursery, cradling her baby daughter to her chest.
From Barron's ● May 7, 2026
The first Stanford was made of real students, who defy tidy put-downs of “kids these days.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
As played by Hawke, Hart adores holding court, entertaining his captive audience with witty put-downs and gossipy Broadway anecdotes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025
His badinage is hardly Wildean, but his put-downs, honed to the sharpness of stilettos, are many people’s idea of fun.
From Salon ● May 8, 2024
At the colleges, I’ve developed some stock put-downs for them: “You must be a law student, aren’t you?”
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
