Word
putt
US/ˈpət/
UK/pˈʌt/
Definitions
01golf stroke
v. to hit a golf ball gently across the grass toward the hole.
v. to strike a golf ball lightly with a putter, typically on the putting green, with the intent of rolling it into the hole.
“She carefully lined up her shot and putted the ball straight into the hole.”
“The professional golfer putted with remarkable precision, managing to save par despite the challenging slope of the green.”
Usage
The verb is usually used intransitively or with the ball as the direct object.
Antonyms
02engine sound
v. to move slowly while making a soft, rhythmic 'putt-putt' sound like a small engine.
v. to emit or move with a sequence of muffled, rhythmic percussive sounds characteristic of a small internal combustion engine.
“The old boat putted slowly across the lake in the early morning.”
“We watched the vintage tractor as it putted down the lane, its engine struggling to maintain a steady rhythm.”
Informal
Usage
Often used with directional prepositions like 'along', 'around', or 'past'.
03golf shot
n. a short, gentle shot in golf made on the green.
n. a stroke made on a putting green to cause the ball to roll into or near the hole.
“He missed a very short putt on the final hole and lost the tournament.”
“After a brilliant approach shot, he was left with a simple three-foot putt to win the championship.”
04rhythmic sound
n. the soft, repeating sound made by a small engine.
n. an onomatopoeic representation of the sound made by a slowly stroking internal combustion engine.
“The steady putt of the lawnmower was the only sound in the quiet neighborhood.”
“The rhythmic putt of the distant fishing boat provided a soothing backdrop to the seaside evening.”
Informal
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“We got to figure out how to hit our putts a little bit harder, which is really difficult, to change the way you putt.” Etymology
Borrowed from Scots putt (“to put”). Compare Middle Dutch putten (“to dig a pit”). The Old English putian (“to push; thrust; put; place”) derivation is commonly assumed, although no longer valid. In Dutch, the word is instanced in a description of golf in an early seventeenth-century edition of Pieter van Afferden's Tyrocinium linguae latinae. All derive from Proto-Germanic *putōną.
Onomatopoeic, from putt-putt.
Probable variant of pot (“vessel”) or butt (“cask”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.