putter

¹ American  

[puht-er] / ˈpʌt ər /

verb (used without object)

1. to busy or occupy oneself in a leisurely, casual, or ineffective manner.

   to putter in the garden.

2. to move or go in a specified manner with ineffective action or little energy or purpose.

   to putter about the house on a rainy day.

3. to move or go slowly or aimlessly; loiter.

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noun

1. puttering or ineffective action; dawdling.

verb phrase

1. putter away to spend or fill in a random, inconsequential, or unproductive way; fritter away; waste.

   We puttered the morning away.

putter ² American  

[puht-er] / ˈpʌt ər /

noun

Golf.

1. a person who putts.

2. a club with a relatively short, stiff shaft and a wooden or iron head, used in putting.

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putter ³ American  

[poot-er] / ˈpʊt ər /

noun

1. a person or thing that puts.

2. Track. a shot-putter.

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putter ¹ British  

/ ˈpʌtə /

verb

1. (intr;often foll by about or around) to busy oneself in a desultory though agreeable manner

2. (intr;often foll by along or about) to move with little energy or direction

   to putter about town

3. to waste (time)

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noun

1. the act of puttering

putter ² British  

/ ˈpʌtə /

noun

1. a club for putting, usually having a solid metal head

2. a golfer who putts

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putter ³ British  

/ ˈpʊtə /

noun

1. a person who puts

   the putter of a question

2. a person who puts the shot

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Other Word Forms

• putterer noun
• putteringly adverb

Etymology

Origin of putter¹

First recorded in 1825–30; variant of potter ²

Origin of putter²

First recorded in 1740–50; putt + -er ¹

Origin of putter³

First recorded in 1570–90; put + -er ¹

Explanation

A golfer who hits the ball very gently close to the hole is a putter. The club used to do this is also a putter. But to putter is to poke around aimlessly, maybe watch a little golf on TV. In golf, the putter is the club with the flat face, and sometimes with a slightly bent shaft. When you hit the ball with a putter, you putt. If you putter, it's something completely different — it means you make yourself busy without accomplishing anything huge. You might putter around the house on Saturday afternoon, filling the dishwasher and flipping through a magazine, for example. The golfing meaning comes from a Scottish word for "push or shove."

Example Sentences

He was beaten by McIlroy in a play-off last year, but put himself in position to avenge that defeat as McIlroy's stone-cold putter loosened his grip on the tournament.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026

Only a few photographers caught this split-second moment when all the elements came together - where his right arm is, the angle of the putter, the position of his legs, his facial expression.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

He said the past two weeks had boosted his confidence in his putter, and it certainly showed as he needed just 22 putts, gaining more than five strokes on the field on the greens.

From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026

I think I’m just a serial putterer, in that I putter around and I don’t know what I’m doing a lot of the time.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025

Jean Louise drove the putter home beside the fire tongs, gathered up the golf balls, and threw them at the spittoon.

From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee

Related Words

• loiter