put-put

1 of 2

noun

variants or putt-putt

ˈpət¦pət,

usually -¦pət+V

plural -s

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

put-put

2 of 2

intransitive verb

variants or putt-putt

"

put-putted or putt-putted; put-putted or putt-putted; put-putting or putt-putting; put-puts or putt-putts

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

Word History

Etymology

Noun

imitative

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