putter — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To be active, but not excessively busy, at a task or a series of tasks.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.

Noun

1. One who puts or places.

   Examples

   He was a model of anal defensiveness: fastidious in his dress and appearance, a collector and putter of things in order, a classifier and labeler.

   More examples (1)

   […] for example, Gleitman (1990:30), in support of her claim for universal alignments of syntax and semantics, argues for the universal naturalness of three arguments for 'put' verbs (a putter, a puttee, and a location).

2. A shot-putter.

3. One who pushes the small wagons in a coal mine, to transport the coal mined by the getter.

Noun

1. A golf club specifically intended for a putt.

2. A person who is taking a putt or putting.

Verb

1. To produce intermittent bursts of sound in the course of operating.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Examples

   By the time the engine had puttered and died Atkins and some of the others were out of the trenches and walking towards this new wonder machine.

   Timmy's dad drove an old blue truck that puttered and sputtered to get to the top of the mountain, that led to the valley, where … the WILDCAT waited.

   More examples (2)

   As I reluctantly left Tangkoko for the last time, bumping along the trail on a motorbike, Raoul, the alpha male who had smacked my leg, wandered out from among the trees. He was alone, and after I puttered by, I glanced back to see him swagger into the middle of the path to watch me go.

   My boyfriend, the cello owner, makes little noises while he putters around, which distracts me from reading my 20,000-word long-form articles about Iraq. So I noise-cancel him too.

Noun

1. a golfer who is putting

   Broader terms

   golfergolf player

2. the iron normally used on the putting green

   Synonyms

   putting iron

   Broader terms

   iron

Verb

1. work lightly

   Synonyms

   potter

   Broader terms

   busyoccupy

   Examples

   The old lady is pottering around in the garden

2. do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly

   Synonyms

   mess aroundpottertinkermonkeymonkey aroundmuck aboutmuck around

   Broader terms

   work

   Examples

   The old lady is usually mucking about in her little house

3. move around aimlessly

   Synonyms

   potterpotter aroundputter around

   Broader terms

   move