put by

English

Etymology

From put + by.

Verb

put by (third-person singular simple present puts by, present participle putting by, simple past and past participle put by)

1. (transitive) To store, or place in reserve; to save (money, etc.) for later use.

   Coordinate terms: lay aside, lay away, lay by, lay in, lay up, put aside, put away, save, store, store away, store up

   Our family has been putting food by for generations.

   I have put by a few hundred pounds for a rainy day.

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.

   • 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:

     For Christian shame, put by this barbarous brawl:

   • 1895, Marie Corelli, The Sorrows of Satan, →OCLC:

     I refolded and put by his letter and the draft for the fifty pounds,

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     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.

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.

Synonyms

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