Dictionary

put by en · VERB

Etymology

From put + by.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To store, or place in reserve; to save (money, etc.) for later use.
   • I have put by a few hundred pounds for a rainy day.
   • Our family has been putting food by for generations.
2. (transitive) To remove (something) from the present context and into its proper place; (figurative) to reject or disregard.
   • When the lesson was finished, she put by her books and papers.
   • When I came first to Caulds I sought to prevail upon him to accept the eldership, but he aye put me by, and when I heard his tale I saw that he had done wisely. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
   • For Christian shame, put by this barbarous brawl: c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 320:
   • I refolded and put by his letter and the draft for the fifty pounds, 1895, Marie Corelli, The Sorrows of Satan: or The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire […], London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC:
3. (ditransitive) To perform an action without attracting the attention of.
   • I managed to put that transaction by accounts payable.
4. (intransitive) Of a ship: to be run aground intentionally to avoid a collision
   • The Bow Spring put by to avoid colliding with the Manzanillo II.

Forms

Coordinates

put away · lay away · save · lay in · store · lay up · put aside · store away · store up · lay by · lay aside

Synonyms

save (save) · lay by · put aside · put away · set aside (remove, reject) · lay up · put aside (remove, reject) · sneak past (do without notice) · lay aside (remove, reject) · set aside · put away (remove, reject) · accumulate · lay aside · get past (do without notice)