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

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.

Example Sentences

Putt also acknowledged the broad array of films nominated.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2025

Bafta chair Sara Putt described Davis as a "talented, much loved and truly inspiring figure who has captivated audiences over many decades".

From BBC • Jan. 10, 2025

Putt launched a review, which has concluded that "there are exceptional grounds in which an award won in competition should be reviewed and possibly rescinded".

From BBC • Nov. 13, 2024

For him, the memories are still fresh from the Drive, Chip & Putt contest when he was 12.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2024

Putt it was all nonsense, I teclare to cootness.

From Thereby Hangs a Tale Volume One by Fenn, George Manville