English

Verb

put away

1. (transitive) To place out of the way, clean up.

   Please put away the tools when you are finished.‎

   I put the clothes away so as to neaten the room.‎

   • 1879, Richard Jefferies, chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher:

     They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.

2. (transitive) To store, add to one's stores for later use.

   Preparing for the worst, they put away food for the winter.‎

3. (transitive, colloquial) To consume (food or drink), especially in large quantities.

   You wouldn't think such a small person could put away so much food.‎

4. (transitive) To send (someone) to prison.

   After he was convicted, they put him away for 10 years.‎

5. (transitive) To kill someone.
6. (transitive, combat sports, by extension) To knock out an opponent.

   He put away his opponent in the first round.‎

7. (transitive, now formal or literary) To discard, divest oneself of.
   • 1611, The Bible (Authorized Version), 1 Corinthians XIII.11:

     When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

8. (obsolete, transitive) To fend off, deflect; to dismiss.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter j, in Le Morte Darthur, book IV:

     Also he told kynge Arthur that he shold mysse hym / yet had ye leuer than al your landes to haue me ageyne / A sayd the kynge / syn ye knowe of your aduenture puruey for hit / and put awey by your craftes that mysauenture / Nay said Merlyn it wylle not be / soo he departed from the kynge.

9. (archaic, transitive) To divorce.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Mark X:

     And the pharyses cam and axed hym a question: whether it were laufull for a man to putt awaye hys wyfe.

10. (sports) To take a large lead in a game, especially enough to guarantee victory or make the game no longer competitive.

    They put the game away by scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.‎

11. (baseball) To strike out a batter.
12. (baseball) To catch a fly ball or tag out a baserunner.
13. (tennis) To hit the ball in such a way that the opponent cannot reach it; see passing shot

Translations

See also

• pack away