▪ I. putting, vbl. n.1
(ˈpʊtɪŋ)
Also 1 putung, 4 pottyng.
[f. OE. *putian, put v.1 + -ing1.]
The action of the verb put, in various senses.
1. a. Pushing, shoving, thrusting. Obs. exc. dial.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8891 And left þer pottyng many on, Ȝit stirede þey nought þe leste ston. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xii. 5, I sett noght by þaire stirynge na mare þan a geaunte dos at þe puttynge of a waik man. 14.. R. Glouc.'s Chron. (Rolls) 4313 Þer was pultinge & ssouinge [MS. β. puttynge & schowynge] & stroc mony on. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 418/1 Puttynge, or schowynge, pulsus. |
† b. fig. Instigation, incitement; urging, driving.
| c 1050 Rule of Chrodegang (E.E.T.S.) 99 Hation þæt þurh deofles putunge wæs an belæd, & lufian þæt þurh Godes godnysse gesceapon wæs. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxxv. 12 Þe hand of þe synful, þat is, þe puttynge of þe fende, stire me not till syn. 1599 H. Holland Wks. R. Greenham 2 He thought all afflictions to be puttings of him to God from slothfulnes. |
† c. Driving out, expulsion, emission.
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xxix. (Bodl. MS.), Þe pacient trauaileþ..muche in drawing and putting of breeþ. |
2. Sprouting, germination.
| 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 20 The growth of the Tree, couering of wounds, putting of buds. Ibid. 29 The first shew of putting is no sure signe of growth. |
3. Coal-mining. The pushing or propelling of the trams or barrows of coal: see
put v.
1 4.
| 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 150 The more the actual present workings are hampered by lowness and want of room, the higher will be the expenses of putting, &c. 1894 Times 11 Oct. 4/6 From putting, the lad, now recognized as a full-grown and properly-trained miner, passes to hewing. |
4. Naut. The action of setting out or taking one's course (to sea, into harbour, etc.).
| 1590 Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. Wks. (Grosart) I. 247 This is euen at the first putting into harbour, to cast away the Shyp. 1748 Anson's Voy. iii. iii. 328 The day of their putting to sea. |
5. Placing, laying, setting, etc.: see
put v.
1 10, 13.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 418/1 Puttynge, or leyynge, posicio, collocacio. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 39 At his [a corpse's] putting into the Sea the Captain of our Ship honoured his Funeral with the rending clamour of four Culverins. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 338 The time of putting of your Spirits into your Cyder. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. I. vi. 109 We..were earnest only in the putting of cakes. |
6. In various general and figurative senses: see
put v.
1 10 i, 11, 12, 15–28.
| 148. Wriothesley Chron. (Camden) I. 87 With the image of his puttinge to death. 1613 Sir T. Lake in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 149 At their first putting into the world. 1884 tr. Lotze's Metaph. 32 It is by this act of putting that there is constituted the very intelligible though not further analysable idea of an objectivity which can be ascribed only to that which is, not to nothing. |
† 7. Cards. In the game of ‘put’ or ‘putt’: see
put v.
1 22 e.
Obs.| 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester (ed. 2) xv. 93 Sometimes they play without putting, and then the winner is he that wins most tricks. Ibid., He that once hath the confidence to putt on bad Cards cannot recall his putting. |
8. The exercise of throwing a heavy stone or weight from the shoulder: see
put v.
1 2. In
Sc. (
ˈpʌtɪŋ).
| c 1300 Havelok 1042 Hauelok stod, and lokede þer-til; And of puttingge he was ful wil. Ibid. 2324 Wrastling with laddes, putting of ston. c 1440 [see put v.1 2 b]. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. (1894) ii. 47 There is wrestling and putting of weights and dancing on holidays. |
9. With adverbs, expressing the action of the adverbial combinations
s.v. put v.
1 V.: as
putting away,
putting back,
putting by,
putting down,
putting forth,
putting in,
putting off,
putting on,
putting out,
putting to,
putting together,
putting up (in various senses general and technical: see under the verb).
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Pet. iii. 21 The *puttinge awey of flesch of filthis. 1659 Ld. Lambert in Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 473 It is not a putting it away but taking it in. 1892 Temple Bar Mag. Dec. 580 Tired and heated with final packings and puttings away. |
| 1530 Palsgr. 259/2 *Puttyng backe, repulce. |
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. ii. (1495) 28 A myrrour of euerlastyng durynge without ony *puttyng betwene. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong., Interposement, a putting or setting betwene. |
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 231 At euery *putting by, mine honest Neighbors showted. |
| 1530 Tindale Pract. Prel. Expos. & Notes (Parker Soc.) II. 334 Concerning the Cardinal's *putting down, I consider many things. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 30 I'le Exhibit a Bill in the Parliament for the putting downe of men. |
| 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xviii. xcv. 841 The serpent crepyth wyth preuy *puttynges forthe of scales. 1589 Acts Privy Counc. (1898) XVII. 353 His putting furth of their Society without anie just cause should be noe prejudice unto him. 1847 Bushnell Chr. Nurt. ii. ii. (1861) 261 Their every putting forth has a lying character. |
| 1599 Minsheu Span. Gram. 78 With a certaine disdaine and *putting-from with the hand. |
| 1483 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 249/1 After the retourne or *puttyng in of any suche Offices. 1574 tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 18 This putting in of the Sunday in sted of the Sabbat day. 1668–9 Pepys Diary 19 Feb., I did propose to him my putting in to serve in Parliament. 1867 Ruskin Time & Tide ix. §44 (1904) 53, I write you my letter straightforward, and let you see all my scratchings out and puttings in. |
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Delay, a delay, a *putting off. c 1680 W. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 332 The putting off of the motion. 1803 in Spirit Pub. Jrnls. VII. 229 Wilt thou never yet have done With puttings-off eternal? 1842 Manning Serm., Obedience (1848) I. 136 What a putting off of this lower life shall there be at that day! |
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 120 Lord Angelo..awakens mee With this vnwonted *putting on. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 914 Honour is, like a Widow, won With brisk Attempt and putting on. 1860 Trench Serm. Westm. Abb. i. 7 A putting on of the armour of light. 1930 A. Armstrong Taxi xii. 163 ‘Putting on’ is the taxi man's expression for coming on at the end of the rank. 1968 Listener 31 Oct. 566/1 They acknowledged their debt to McLuhan and paraded his definition of modern myths—the putting on of an audience and its environment. |
| c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 288 A [= on] payn of *puttyng oute of bothe his een. 1613–39 I. Jones in Leoni Palladio's Archit. (1742) I. 72 The putting out of the Landing-place of the Stairs farther than the Range of the Rooms. 1630 Earl of Manchester in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 271 The putting out of apprentices. 1947 S. C. Adams in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 519 The younger generation are largely indifferent either as to the necessity of joining the church, or, if they are already members, as to the ‘putting out’ of the church. |
| c 1450 Godstow Reg. 197 He strengthed hyt with þe *puttynge to of hys seele. 1579 J. Loud in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. li. 388 At the first putting to of the fire. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports 545/2 Putting-to is managed very differently, according to whether the horse is going in shafts or with a pole. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 187 The volunteers who had assisted at the ticklish business of putting to. |
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §821 In the first *putting up it cooleth in little portions. 1641 Milton Animadv. ii. 18 The putting up of our Praiers. c 1806 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. (1941) I. 258 She did not much encourage us to go, because..it was a long way, ‘and there was no putting-up for the like of us’. 1834 M'Culloch Dict. Comm. 1082 Employed..in embroidering, mending, bleaching, dyeing,..putting-up, &c. 1907 J. G. Millais Newfoundland iv. 76 During the month of September the big stags keep to themselves in various ‘putting up’ spots..near the lakes and rivers. 1909 Daily Chron. 16 June 1/2 It was the biggest fight he had ever undertaken, but he was going to win it..or if he did not win he was going to give the other side a rare ‘putting up’. 1914 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 536/1 Herrings cause similar bubbles, which fishermen call ‘putting up’. |
10. attrib. and
Comb.:
putting-road, a road along which coal is ‘put’ (see sense 3) in a mine; also
putting-stick,
= putter n.1 4,
poting-stick (see
pote v.).
| 1887 P. M'Neill Blawearie 21 [The pit] has been stopped for some years, not because the ‘*putting roads’ had become too far, or too heavy for the putters;..but because the seam had become utterly flooded with water. 1583 *Putting sticke [see putter n.1 4]. |
▪ II. putting, vbl. n.2 (
ˈpʌtɪŋ)
[f. put, putt v.2] 1. Golf. The action of striking the ball with the putter in order to get it into the hole.
| 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. I. 84 The art..of so proportioning the force and direction of the stroke, or putting as it is called, that the ball may with few strokes be driven into the hole. 1857 Chambers's Inform. People 695/1 It is only by careful judgment that nicety in putting is arrived at. 1892 Eng. Illustr. Mag. X. 58 All golf..is divided into three parts—driving, iron play, and putting. |
b. Comb. putting cleek, a cleek used in putting;
putting course poet. = putting green;
ˈputting-green, (
a) the part of the ground, usually kept smooth and clear of obstacles, around each hole; (
b) a miniature golf course;
putting-hole: where the ball is ‘putted’;
putting-iron, an iron putter (
putter n.2 2 a).
| 1881 Forgan Golfer's Handbk. 13 The ‘*Putting Cleek’..is employed on the putting-green, but is a very treacherous weapon. 1905 H. Vardon Compl. Golfer 146 Whether it is a plain gun-metal instrument, a crooked-necked affair, a putting cleek, an ordinary aluminium, [or] a wooden putter. |
| 1945 J. Betjeman Coll. Poems (1958) 116 Over the *putting-course rashes were seen Of pink and of yellow among the burnt green. 1966 ― High & Low 62, I will not go to Finsbury Park The putting course to see. |
| 1841 Links o' Innerleven iii. in Poems on Golf (1867) 61 Yet oft upon the *putting-green He'll rest to gaze upon the scene That lies round Innerleven. 1857 Chambers's Inform. People 695/1 Your ball..lies on the sward, or ‘putting-green’, within a dozen yards from the hole. 1977 Evening Post (Nottingham) 27 Jan. 14/1 (Advt.), Local amenities bowls, tennis, putting green, paddling pool. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 3 Nov. 3/1 Finding nothing to reward them in that, they [jackdaws] left it, to visit the *putting-hole of the clock-golf. |
| 1857 Chambers's Inform. People 695/1 Should you be advised to substitute a *putting-iron for the bonâ-fide tool, shun the advice, and stick to the putter. |
2. = prec. 8, which in
Sc. is (
ˈpʌtɪŋ).
▪ III. putting, ppl. a. (
ˈpʊtɪŋ)
[f. put v.1 + -ing2.] That puts: see the verb. Usually with adverbs, as
† putting-forth, putting oneself forward, self-assertive, presumptuous (
obs.);
putting-off, disconcerting, off-putting, repellent;
cf. off-putting ppl. adj. s.v. off-put;
putting-on, employed in placing something on something else (in manufactures, etc.).
| 1621 Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 28 Whatsoever we are we doe not vaunt: nor ϕανητιᾷν [mispr. ϕαινετιᾶν], as many putting-forth fellowes use to doe. 1642 Rogers Naaman 128 What is so selfe putting forth, as an handmaid affecting the place of her mistresse? 1839 Guide to Trade, Printer 40 Putting-on Boys. 1928 M. Arlen Lily Christine vi. 86 The idea of anyone living..her life ‘bravely’..is, to tell the truth, slightly embarrassing—‘putting-off’, the phrase is. 1932 S. Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm i. 9 ‘Would it impress them with my efficiency?’ ‘No... It would be too putting-off.’ 1945 C. Williams All Hallows' Eve 184 She was very putting-off, and only said: ‘Pray, nurse, do not interfere.’ 1959 Sunday Times 22 Mar. 24/5 The first act was so putting-off that I should not have been much surprised if many viewers had accepted the B.B.C.'s invitation to ‘Follow The Fleet’, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, on the other channel. |