put-put

American  

[puht-puht, -puht] / ˈpʌtˈpʌt, -ˌpʌt /

Or putt-putt

noun

1. the sound made by a small internal-combustion engine or imitative of its operation.

2. Informal. a small internal-combustion engine, or something, as a boat or model airplane, equipped with one.

   the sound of distant put-puts on the lake.

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verb (used without object)

put-putted, put-putting

1. Informal. to operate with sounds suggesting a put-put, as a small motor or motor-driven device.

put-put British  

/ ˈpʌtˌpʌt /

noun

1. a light chugging or popping sound, as made by a petrol engine

2. a vehicle powered by an engine making such a sound

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verb

1. (intr) to make or travel along with such a sound

Etymology

Origin of put-put

First recorded in 1900–05; imitative

Example Sentences

His motley "Honeymoon Fleet" consisted mostly of light Tiger-Moth trainers, no more lethal than the tiny yellow Cubs that put-put around U.S. airports.

From Time Magazine Archive

The put-put goes out and the battery is very low.

From Time Magazine Archive

Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis are the performers caught up in a put-put love affair while the jets vroom prettily above.

From Time Magazine Archive

Leonard Smith of the New York Evening Post and Alfred H. Kerchhofer of the Buffalo Evening News canoed, capsized, found the lake waters icy, heard the rescuing put-put of several motor boats.

From Time Magazine Archive

When Tom was within a few miles of his own boathouse he heard behind him the "put-put" of a motor craft.

From Tom Swift and His Motor-Boat, or, the Rivals of Lake Carlopa by Appleton, Victor [pseud.]