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

How all of us used to dislike the rattling of the put-put, now it is music.

From Time Magazine Archive

The gentle climate, only slightly exaggerated by Sir Walter, woos people from TV tube and typewriter to putter and put-put, field and stream.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

He knows how to handle his machine�in contrast with the put-put crowd in the go-go set.

From Time Magazine Archive

As he did this, he heard the put-put of a motor, and presently around a bend of the shore showed the headlight of Mr. Appleby's motor-boat.

From Dave Porter At Bear Camp or, The Wild Man of Mirror Lake by Rogers, Walter S.