putt
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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putts,
present (3rd person singular)
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putted,
past participle, past
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putting
present participle
noun
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putts
plural
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an act of putting.
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a stroke made in putting.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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puttsimple
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puttssimple
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have puttedperfect
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has puttedperfect
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am puttingprogressive
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are puttingprogressive
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is puttingprogressive
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have been puttingperfect progressive
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has been puttingperfect progressive
Past
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puttedsimple
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had puttedperfect
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was puttingprogressive
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were puttingprogressive
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had been puttingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of putt
First recorded in 1735–45; originally Scots, variant of put
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.
Vocabulary lists containing putt
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.
See Examples For:
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
He regained the lead with a birdie putt at No. 17 and finished the four rounds at seven-under par.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
She also lipped out with her final putt, which would have pulled another shot back.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Koivun’s talent shone through and he sank the putt anyway.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Billy was on the green in seven strokes, and it was his turn to putt.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
In his second round alone, he missed seven birdie putts from 15 feet or less - four inside 10 feet - and was ranked 60th in the field on the greens.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Like most other players, he putts glove free.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Two putts later and a second jacket was his, a one-shot victory over Scheffler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026
Despite the wayward drives, McIlroy steered clear of the mid-range par putts that can ramp up the pressure and derail momentum.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
Each tee shot was right, but Vardon and Ray were poor on the green and took three putts, while the American was down in one less.
From The Happy Golfer Being Some Experiences, Reflections, and a Few Deductions of a Wandering Golfer by Henry Leach
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
And those “prestige” titles are declining in quality, too, leaving one to wonder what a quantity-over-quality business like Netflix stands to gain from putting out stinker after stinker.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
The rising cost of caring for horses is putting more owners under financial pressure, with an animal welfare charity reporting an increase in horses being given up.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
At the same time, global warming is worsening droughts throughout the West, putting even more strain on scarce water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The strategy comes with risks, experts say, including putting money in a stock market that by some traditional measures is expensive and priced in a way that assumes many companies will perform flawlessly.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
“One way of putting it,” said Professor Treebaun as he looked up from his tablet for the first time.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
