put-down

American  

[poot-doun] / ˈpʊtˌdaʊn /

Or putdown

noun

1. a landing of an aircraft.

2. Informal.

   1. a disparaging, belittling, or snubbing remark.

   2. a remark or act intended to humiliate or embarrass someone.

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put down British  

verb

1. to make a written record of

2. to repress

   to put down a rebellion

3. to consider; account

   they put him down for an ignoramus

4. to attribute

   I put the mistake down to his inexperience

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

   the vet put the cat down

6. to table on the agenda

   the MPs put down a motion on the increase in crime

7. to put (a baby) to bed

8. to dismiss, reject, or humiliate

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noun

1. a cruelly crushing remark

put down Idioms  

1. 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]

2. 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]

3. Kill a sick animal, as in The vet said the dog must be put down . [Mid-1500s] Also see put away , def. 5.

4. Belittle, disparage, criticize, as in Her husband was always putting her down . [c. 1400] Also see run down , def. 6.

5. Ascribe, attribute, as in We put her poor performance down to stage fright . [Late 1700s]

6. Regard, classify, as in We put her down as a hypochondriac . [Mid-1800s]

7. Pay a deposit, as in We put down $2,000 for the car .

8. Store for future use, as in David put down ten cases of this year's Chablis . [Mid-1800s]

9. 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]

10. Put a child to bed, as in The sitter said she'd put Brian down at 8:30 . [Second half of 1900s]

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Etymology

Origin of put-down

First recorded in 1960–65; noun use of verb phrase put down

Example Sentences

It was not only her contemptuous put-down: “You have no foreign policy experience and it shows.”

From Seattle Times • Aug. 25, 2023

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

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

What makes this all the more frustrating is that it's true, as the editorial board says, that "social media is awash in speech of the point-scoring, picking-apart, piling-on, put-down variety."

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2022

It was classic Zach—the sneering, superior put-down tone that he used on other people, but never on me.

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman

Related Words

• jibe