put-down

put down

1. verb Literally, to place someone or something down on or into something. (In usages 1–12, a noun or pronoun can be used between "put" and "down.") You can put down those groceries on the table, thanks. I put the baby down in her playpen and then went to answer the phone.
2. verb To insult, mock, belittle, or disparage one. The boss is always putting me down in front of everyone in the office. It's really making my life miserable. Tommy, don't put your brother down like that—if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything.
3. verb To kill one. The marshal told the fugitive that he would put him down if he reached for his gun.
4. verb To euthanize an animal. We knew our poor dog was suffering, so we decided it was time to put her down.
5. verb To write something down. I know he put his phone number down somewhere. Let's put down some of these ideas on the whiteboard while we're brainstorming.
6. verb To assign someone a particular task or thing. No, no, I put Holly down to bring in napkins. You were supposed to pick up the cupcakes!
7. verb To note one's commitment to do, give, or receive something. Oh, I'd be happy to donate! Please put me down for $20. A: "When do you guys want to work at the fair?" B: "Put us down for the four o'clock shift."
8. verb To pay some partial amount of money for an item that one will fully pay for over time or at a later time. How quickly you pay off the loan depends on much can you put down each month? I'll hold it for you if you can put $500 down right now.
9. verb To deem something to be the cause of something else. We put David's erratic behavior down to sleep deprivation.
10. verb To quash, eliminate, or put an end to something, especially through force or violence. They sent thousands of soldiers to put down the upstart rebellion. Everyone believes the company hired armed thugs to come put the employee strike down by force.
11. verb To put a young child in a particular place (such as a bed or crib) so they can sleep. The baby's getting cranky—it's time to put her down for her nap. Tom is upstairs putting down the kids for the night.
12. verb To land an aircraft. The pilot sure put the plane down smoothly. I'm just looking for a good place to put down the hot-air balloon.
13. verb Of an aircraft or its pilot, to land. When are we supposed to put down in Chicago?
14. verb To stop engaging with some piece of media or technology that requires the use of one's hands. I really wish you would put the video games down and go outside for a while. The book was so thrilling that I just couldn't put it down. We have a hard time getting our kids to put down their phones.
15. verb To allow someone to disembark from a vehicle. You can put me down at the front gate. I don't mind walking the rest of the way to the manor. The shuttle put down its passengers at the airport.
16. verb To reduce the cost of something. The government has been offering subsidies to put down the price of grain for farmers, millers, and bakers. The tech company has really focused on putting the cost down for their newest product to make it affordable to a wider range of consumers.
17. noun A mocking, insulting, and disparaging comment or remark. The phrase is usually hyphenated when used as a noun. Enough with the put-downs, Tommy—if you don't have anything nice to say about your brother's performance, don't say anything at all. All the little put-downs my boss makes have worn my self-confidence away to nothing.
See also: down, put

put-down

A mocking, insulting, and disparaging comment or remark. Enough with the put-downs, Tommy—if you don't have anything nice to say about your brother's performance, don't say anything at all. All the little put-downs my boss makes have worn my self-confidence away to nothing.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

put-down

n. an insult; an intentionally cruel and deflating insult. Another put-down like that and I’m going home.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • champ down on (someone or something)
  • bear down
  • blaze down
  • blaze down on (someone or something)
  • chomp down on (someone or something)
  • be down to (do something)
  • be down to something
  • clamp down
  • clamp down on
  • clamp down on (someone or something)
References in periodicals archive
These days the art of parliamentary put-downs has mostly been replaced with political spin and politicians prefer to take their potshots at each other in the press and on lobby terms.
Merging music, poetry and put-downs, one rapper is given less than a minute to launch a tirade of verbal insults designed to wither his opponent who then gets the same time to come back.
Yo! Time to rap up the patois of parliamentary barbs and insults
PUT-DOWN: (Indicate his trouser area) "No, but I bet you get a fair few of those."
PUT-DOWN:"Yes, they grow when I water them, so buy me a beer and then clear off."
PUT-DOWN: "Whatever you've lost, I really don't think you'll find it down my top."
BIG-BREASTED babes, fed up being the butt of men's jokes, can take heart from a new book of put-downs.
BRA-VO RONNIE; TV funnygirl fronts book of put-downs for boob jibes
Because of this, threats are a particularly harmful kind of put-down.
Put-downs show a lack of sensitivity to the feelings of employees.
Frequently put-downs are defensive maneuvers intended to distract a supervisor from an undesirable duty.
Putting down employees: a sure way to lower morale
PUT-DOWN: Do you deliver meals on wheels to old invalids?
PUT-DOWN: And if you were a real man I'd stay and talk to you.
And for any girl on the receiving end of attention from an unwanted suitor, RACHEL DOBSON has got some ego-crushing put-downs certain to rout any Romeo...
Are you wearing Star Wars undies? 'Cos your bum's out of this world...; GUIDE FOR VALENTINE'S DAY
Clearly, a put-down of the "literary lion" and "malapropian Hall of Famer" was in play, but the punch line left me guessing.
It is here, finally, in the narrow borders of the meritocratic class, that the Spy put-down game has its most insidious effects.
The proliferation of the put-down, and Spy's honing it to new levels of precision, gives the New York magazine world a new hierarchy.
Spy anxiety; the smart magazine that makes smart people nervous about their status