1
: a sound made by or suggestive of the operation of a small gasoline engine
the put-put of its motor—
Kay Boyle occasionally there would be the rapid put-put of conversation—Donn Byrne
2
: a small gasoline engine or a vehicle or boat equipped with one
a phonograph and a radio and a flivver and a put-put for the canoe—Fannie Kilbourne experimenting with fast-flying combat planes to replace the slow-flying put-puts now used for the job—Time
1
: to make put-puts : make the flat regularly repeated explosive sound of a small gasoline engine
his angry style, which keeps put-putting in a series of equal explosions like a one-cylinder gasoline engine—Malcolm Cowley
2
: to proceed or operate with or as if with put-puts : travel in a vehicle or boat that put-puts
the launch went put-putting across the darkening harbor—William Irish put-put off across the water to visit the alligators—J. L. Jolley
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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