put across
Britishverb
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(adverb) to communicate in a comprehensible way
he couldn't put things across very well
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informal to get (someone) to accept or believe a claim, excuse, etc, by deception
they put one across their teacher
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Cause to be understood or accepted, as in She put her views across very well . [c. 1920]
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Attain or carry through by deceit, as in You can't put anything across this teacher . [c. 1920] Also see put over , def. 3.
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.
If he were left alone, without lights, sound, projections or Dane Laffrey’s curving, swerving set, he might put across this fable even more convincingly.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2022
His poorly reviewed movie performances certainly raise the possibility that he’s trying to put across a fully formed character in his music and merely failing to get it done.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2022
"Had there been, people could have put across their ideas," he says.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2022
Baltimore entered 24th among the 30 major league teams in scoring, then put across its highest runs total since beating Oakland 18-2 on Aug. 16, 2015.
From Fox News ● Jun. 6, 2021
Kennedy, a folklorist at heart, apparently wanted to put across the most dramatic story possible, and therefore included not only his own anti-Klan activities but those of another man, code-named John Brown.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
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.
