putt

American  

[puht] / pʌt /

verb (used with or without object)

• putts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• putted,
  past participle,  past
• putting
  present participle

1. to strike (a gollf ball) gently so as to make it roll along the green into the hole.

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noun

• putts
  plural

1. an act of putting.

2. a stroke made in putting.

putt British  

/ pʌt /

noun

1. a stroke on the green with a putter to roll the ball into or near the hole

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verb

1. to strike (the ball) in this way

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• putts
  plural

Participles

• putting
  present
• putted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• putt
  simple
• putts
  simple
• have putted
  perfect
• has putted
  perfect
• am putting
  progressive
• are putting
  progressive
• is putting
  progressive
• have been putting
  perfect progressive
• has been putting
  perfect progressive

Past

• putted
  simple
• had putted
  perfect
• was putting
  progressive
• were putting
  progressive
• had been putting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will putt
  simple
• will have putted
  perfect
• will be putting
  progressive
• will have been putting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of putt

First recorded in 1735–45; originally Scots, variant of put

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Explanation

To putt is to hit a golf ball softly with a club, usually when you're close to the hole. Golfers use a special club called a putter when they're ready to putt. The distance between your golf ball and the hole determines how you putt, but the stroke is generally gentle, intended to get the ball on the green or all the way into the hole. Unlike other golf strokes that send the ball arcing through the air, a putt is always meant to simply roll it. Putt is a Scottish word that originally meant "to shove" or "to push," and came to include the golf meaning in 1743.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

putt putts putted putting

With the light fading on the Bernardus course in the Netherlands, Jennifer Kupcho holed a nerve-shredding putt from the edge of the 18th green to snatch a point and leave the teams tied at 8-8.

From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026

But an extraordinary 90-foot putt from Kupcho on the 17th clawed the Americans back into contention and they headed up the last hole all square.

From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026

Whaley rounded off his win with a superb left-to-right putt for birdie at 15 to become the first English amateur to triumph in the US Amateur since Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Even when Johnson produced a modest wedge shot, as he did on the 11th, he holed the putt from off the green to get to 18 under and place one hand on the inaugural trophy.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

Karen had picked up the shot putt and was holding it until someone told her what to do.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Ciganda continued her fine form from Friday, holing two long-range putts on the front nine to put the European pairing in the box seat.

From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026

They moved down to Frisco, Texas, and adopted the name Good Good—the phrase two golfers use on the green to give each other gimme putts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

I didn't really hole putts this week, it felt like my usual putting just wasn't there, but overall a decent week.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Two putts later and a second jacket was his, a one-shot victory over Scheffler.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026

“But we always putts them fan-shaped like that.”

From The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett by Compton MacKenzie

Here’s the way my golf buddies roll: Obviously, eagle or birdie putts must be putted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026

"Once I started to trust my reads a bit on the back nine and I went more with my first instinct, I putted a little bit better," McIlroy said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

“I putted really well, hit my driver great and I’m excited to be in the hunt for the second straight week,” Bridgeman said after coolly sinking an eight-foot birdie putt on the last hole.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

And he has generally putted well at Quail, a fact not lost on two-time major winner Rahm.

From BBC ● May 13, 2025

We putted into the light of a flickering sign announcing that we had arrived at the Red Carpet In_ and, yes, there was Vaca_cy.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

With some formal firefighter training and background checks, volunteers commit to following fire officials’ orders, helping residents evacuate and putting out spot fires, while leaving the ferocious front-line flames to the professionals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

A founder with three children, for example, might leave each 25% of the business while putting the remaining 25% in the hands of a trustee to allocate later based on involvement in the business.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Successful custom chips could let Microsoft retain more of the money it earns from AI, while putting pressure on the prices Nvidia can charge.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

If dry conditions persist, rivers, reservoirs and groundwater levels can also fall, putting pressure on water supplies.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

“Jonah, if you’d really thought there was an intruder, you shouldn’t have come rushing up here, putting yourself in danger. You should have called the police,” he said.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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