P
Idioms beginning with "P"
Part of speech, explanation, example sentences, pronunciation
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Contents of P:
[put to bed] {v. phr.}
1. To put to rest for the night.
Father put the three children to bed.
The boy seemed ill, so the nurse put him to bed.
2. {informal}
To complete preparations and print.
The newspaper was put to bed at 1:15 A.M.
[…]
[put to it] {adj. phr.}
Hard pressed; having trouble; in difficulty; puzzled.
When he lost his job, he was rather put to it for a while to provide for his family.
The boy was put to it to answer the teacher's question.
[put to rights] or [set to rights] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To put in good order; clean up.
It took the company a long time to put the office to rights after the fire.
It took Mrs. Smith an hour to set the room to rights after the party.
[put to sea] {v. phr.}
To start a voyage.
The captain said the ship would put to sea at six in the morning.
In the days of sailing ships, putting to sea depended on the tides.
[put to shame] {v. phr.}
1. To disgrace.
The cleanliness of European cities puts our cities to shame.
That filthy dump puts our town to shame.
2. To do much better than surpass.
* /Einstein put other physicists to shame when he proved his […]
[put to sleep] {v. phr.}
1. To cause to fall asleep.
Mother used to put us to sleep by telling us a good-night story and giving us a kiss.
2. To kill with an injection (said of animals).
* /Dr. Murphy, the veterinarian, put our sick, old dog to […]
[put to the sword] {v. phr.}, {literary}
To kill (people) in war, especially with a sword.
The Romans put their enemies to the sword.
In some wars captives have been put to the sword.
[put to use] {v. phr.}
To use.
During the early part of the Korean war the cooks and office workers of the U.S. Army were put to use in battle.
Henry decided to put his dictionary to use.
I wish you'd put the lawn mower to use!
[put two and two together] {v. phr.}
To make decisions based on available proofs; reason from the known facts; conclude; decide.
He had put two and two together and decided where they had probably gone.
* /It was just a mater of putting two and […]
[put up] {v.}
1a. To make and pack (especially a lunch or medicine); get ready; prepare.
Every morning Mother puts up lunches for the three children.
The druggist put up the medicine that the doctor had prescribed.
Compare: [MAKE UP] (1).
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