Push Push transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Pushed ; present participle & verbal noun Pushing .] [ Middle English possen , pussen , French pousser , from Latin pulsare , v. intens. from pellere , pulsum , to beat, knock, push. See Pulse a beating, and confer Pursy .] 1. To press against with force; to drive or impel by pressure; to endeavor to drive by steady pressure, without striking; -- opposed to draw .

Sidelong had pushed a mountain from his seat.

Milton.

2. To thrust the points of the horns against; to gore.

If the ox shall push a manservant or maidservant, . . . the ox shall be stoned.

Ex. xxi. 32.

3. To press or urge forward; to drive; to push an objection too far. " To push his fortune." Dryden.

Ambition pushes the soul to such actions as are apt to procure honor to the actor.

Spectator.

We are pushed for an answer.

Swift.

4. To bear hard upon; to perplex; to embarrass.

5. To importune; to press with solicitation; to tease.

To push down , to overthrow by pushing or impulse.

Push Push intransitive verb 1. To make a thrust; to shove; as, to push with the horns or with a sword. Shak.

2. To make an advance, attack, or effort; to be energetic; as, a man must push in order to succeed.

At the time of the end shall the kind of the south push at him and the king of the north shall come against him.

Dan. xi. 40.

War seemed asleep for nine long years; at length
Both sides resolved to push , we tried our strength.

Dryden.

3. To burst pot, as a bud or shoot.

To push on , to drive or urge forward; to hasten.

The rider pushed on at a rapid pace.

Sir W. Scott.

Push Push noun 1. A thrust with a pointed instrument, or with the end of a thing.

2. Any thrust. pressure, impulse, or force, or force applied; a shove; as, to give the ball the first push .

3. An assault or attack; an effort; an attempt; hence, the time or occasion for action.

Exact reformation is not perfected at the first push .

Milton.

When it comes to the push , 'tis no more than talk.

L' Estrange.

4. The faculty of overcoming obstacles; aggressive energy; as, he has push , or he has no push .

[ Colloq.]

Syn. -- See Thrust .

Push Push noun A crowd; a company or clique of associates; a gang. [ Slang]

Push button Push button (Electricity) A simple device, resembling a button in form, so arranged that pushing it closes an electric circuit, as of an electric bell.

Pusher Push"er noun One who, or that which, pushes.

Pushing Push"ing adjective Pressing forward in business; enterprising; driving; energetic; also, forward; officious, intrusive. -- Push"ing*ly , adverb

Pushpin Push"pin` noun A child's game played with pins. Latin Estrange.

Pusil Pu"sil adjective [ Latin pusillus very little.] Very small; little; petty. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

Pusillanimity Pu`sil·la·nim"i·ty noun [ Latin pusillanimitas : confer French pusillanimité .] The quality of being pusillanimous; weakness of spirit; cowardliness.

The badge of pusillanimity and cowardice.

Shak.

It is obvious to distinguished between an act of . . . pusillanimity and an act of great modesty or humility.

South.

Syn. -- Cowardliness; cowardice; fear; timidity.

Pusillanimous Pu`sil·lan"i·mous adjective [ Latin pusillanimis ; pusillus very little (dim. of pusus a little boy; confer puer a boy, English puerile ) + animus the mind: confer French pusillanime . See Animosity .] 1. Destitute of a manly or courageous strength and firmness of mind; of weak spirit; mean- spirited; spiritless; cowardly; -- said of persons, as, a pusillanimous prince.

2. Evincing, or characterized by, weakness of mind, and want of courage; feeble; as, pusillanimous counsels. "A low and pusillanimous spirit." Burke.

Syn. -- Cowardly; dastardly; mean-spirited; fainthearted; timid; weak; feeble.

Pusillanimously Pu`sil·lan"i·mous·ly (pū`sĭl*lăn"ĭ*mŭs*lȳ) adverb With pusillanimity.

Pusley Pus"ley noun (Botany) Purslane. [ Colloq. U. S]

Puss Puss (pus) noun [ Confer Dutch poes , Ir. & Gael. pus .] 1. A cat; - - a fondling appellation.

2. A hare; -- so called by sportsmen.

Puss in the corner , a game in which all the players but one occupy corners of a room, or certain goals in the open air, and exchange places, the one without a corner endeavoring to get a corner while it is vacant, leaving some other without one. -- Puss moth (Zoology) , any one of several species of stout bombycid moths belonging to Cerura , Harpyia , and allied genera, esp. Harpyia vinuli , of Europe. The larvæ are humpbacked, and have two caudal appendages.

Pussy Pussy noun [ Dim. of puss .] 1. A pet name for a cat; also, an endearing name for a girl.

2. A catkin of the pussy willow.

3. The game of tipcat; -- also called pussy cat .

Pussy willow (Botany) , any kind of willow having large cylindrical catkins clothed with long glossy hairs, especially the American Salix discolor ; -- called also glaucous willow , and swamp willow .

Pussy Pus"sy adjective See Pursy . [ Colloq. or Low]

Pustulant Pus"tu·lant adjective [ Latin pustulans , present participle See Pustulate , transitive verb ] (Medicine) Producing pustules. -- noun A medicine that produces pustules, as croton oil.

Pustular Pus"tu·lar adjective 1. Of or pertaining to pustules; as, pustular prominences; pustular eruptions.

2. Covered with pustulelike prominences; pustulate.

Pustulate Pus"tu·late transitive verb [ Latin pustulatus , past participle of pustulare to blister, from pustula . See Pustule .] To form into pustules, or blisters.

Pustulate, Pustulated Pus"tu·late, Pus"tu·la`ted adjective Covered with pustulelike prominences; pustular; pustulous; as, a pustulate leaf; a pustulate shell or coral.

Pustulation Pus·tu·la"tion noun [ Latin pustulatio .] The act of producing pustules; the state of being pustulated.

Pustule Pus"tule noun [ Latin pustula , and pusula : confer French pustule .] (Medicine) A vesicle or an elevation of the cuticle with an inflamed base, containing pus.

Malignant pustule . See under Malignant .

Pustulous Pus"tu·lous adjective [ Latin pustulosus , from pustula a pustule: confer French pustuleux .] Resembling, or covered with, pustules; pustulate; pustular.

Put Put noun [ See Pit .] A pit. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Put Put obsolete 3d pers. sing. present of Put , contracted from putteth . Chaucer.

Put Put noun [ Confer W. pwt any short thing, pwt o ddyn a squab of a person, pwtog a short, thick woman.] A rustic; a clown; an awkward or uncouth person.

Queer country puts extol Queen Bess's reign.

Bramston.

What droll puts the citizens seem in it all.

F. Harrison.

Put Put transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Put ; present participle & verbal noun Putting .] [ Anglo-Saxon potian to thrust: confer Danish putte to put, to put into, Fries. putje ; perhaps akin to W. pwtio to butt, poke, thrust; confer also Gael. put to push, thrust, and English potter , intransitive verb ] 1. To move in any direction; to impel; to thrust; to push; -- nearly obsolete, except with adverbs, as with by ( to put by = to thrust aside; to divert); or with forth ( to put forth = to thrust out).

His chief designs are . . . to put thee by from thy spiritual employment.

Jer. Taylor.

2. To bring to a position or place; to place; to lay; to set; figuratively, to cause to be or exist in a specified relation, condition, or the like; to bring to a stated mental or moral condition; as, to put one in fear; to put a theory in practice; to put an enemy to fight.

This present dignity,
In which that I have put you.

Chaucer.

I will put enmity between thee and the woman.

Gen. iii. 15.

He put no trust in his servants.

Job iv. 18.

When God into the hands of their deliverer
Puts invincible might.

Milton.

In the mean time other measures were put in operation.

Sparks.

3. To attach or attribute; to assign; as, to put a wrong construction on an act or expression.

4. To lay down; to give up; to surrender. [ Obsolete]

No man hath more love than this, that a man put his life for his friends.

Wyclif (John xv. 13).

5. To set before one for judgment, acceptance, or rejection; to bring to the attention; to offer; to state; to express; figuratively, to assume; to suppose; -- formerly sometimes followed by that introducing a proposition; as, to put a question; to put a case.

Let us now put that ye have leave.

Chaucer.

Put the perception and you put the mind.

Berkeley.

These verses, originally Greek, were put in Latin.

Milton.

All this is ingeniously and ably put .

Hare.

6. To incite; to entice; to urge; to constrain; to oblige.

These wretches put us upon all mischief.

Swift.

Put me not use the carnal weapon in my own defense.

Sir W. Scott.

Thank him who puts me, loath, to this revenge.

Milton.

7. To throw or cast with a pushing motion "overhand," the hand being raised from the shoulder; a practice in athletics; as, to put the shot or weight.

8. (Mining) To convey coal in the mine, as from the working to the tramway. Raymond.

Put case , formerly, an elliptical expression for, put or suppose the case to be.

Put case that the soul after departure from the body may live.

Bp. Hall.

-- To put about (Nautical) , to turn, or change the course of, as a ship. -- To put away . (a) To renounce; to discard; to expel. (b) To divorce . -- To put back . (a) To push or thrust backwards; hence, to hinder; to delay. (b) To refuse; to deny .

Coming from thee, I could not put him back .

Shak.

(c) To set, as the hands of a clock, to an earlier hour. (d) To restore to the original place; to replace . -- To put by . (a) To turn, set, or thrust, aside. "Smiling put the question by ." Tennyson. (b) To lay aside; to keep; to sore up; as, to put by money. -- To put down . (a) To lay down; to deposit; to set down. (b) To lower; to diminish; as, to put down prices . (c) To deprive of position or power; to put a stop to; to suppress; to abolish; to confute; as, to put down rebellion or traitors .

Mark, how a plain tale shall put you down .

Shak.

Sugar hath put down the use of honey.

Bacon.

(d) To subscribe; as, to put down one's name. -- To put forth . (a) To thrust out; to extend, as the hand; to cause to come or push out; as, a tree puts forth leaves. (b) To make manifest; to develop; also, to bring into action; to exert; as, to put forth strength . (c) To propose, as a question, a riddle, and the like . (d) To publish, as a book . -- To put forward . (a) To advance to a position of prominence or responsibility; to promote. (b) To cause to make progress; to aid . (c) To set, as the hands of a clock, to a later hour . -- To put in . (a) To introduce among others; to insert; sometimes, to introduce with difficulty; as, to put in a word while others are discoursing. (b) (Nautical) To conduct into a harbor, as a ship . (c) (Law) To place in due form before a court; to place among the records of a court . Burrill. (d) (Medicine) To restore, as a dislocated part, to its place. -- To put off . (a) To lay aside; to discard; as, to put off a robe; to put off mortality. " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet." Ex. iii. 5. (b) To turn aside; to elude; to disappoint; to frustrate; to baffle.

I hoped for a demonstration, but Themistius hoped to put me off with an harangue.

Boyle.

We might put him off with this answer.

Bentley.

(c) To delay; to defer; to postpone; as, to put off repentance. (d) To get rid of; to dispose of; especially, to pass fraudulently; as, to put off a counterfeit note, or an ingenious theory . (e) To push from land; as, to put off a boat . -- To put on or upon . (a) To invest one's self with, as clothes; to assume. "Mercury . . . put on the shape of a man." L'Estrange. (b) To impute (something) to; to charge upon; as, to put blame on or upon another. (c) To advance; to promote . [ Obsolete] "This came handsomely to put on the peace." Bacon. (d) To impose; to inflict. "That which thou puttest on me, will I bear." 2 Kings xviii. 14. (e) To apply; as, to put on workmen; to put on steam. (f) To deceive; to trick. "The stork found he was put upon ." L'Estrange. (g) To place upon, as a means or condition; as, he put him upon bread and water. "This caution will put them upon considering." Locke. (h) (Law) To rest upon; to submit to; as, a defendant puts himself on or upon the country. Burrill. -- To put out . (a) To eject; as, to put out and intruder. (b) To put forth; to shoot, as a bud, or sprout . (c) To extinguish; as, to put out a candle, light, or fire . (d) To place at interest; to loan; as, to put out funds . (e) To provoke, as by insult; to displease; to vex; as, he was put out by my reply . [ Colloq.] (f) To protrude; to stretch forth; as, to put out the hand. (g) To publish; to make public; as, to put out a pamphlet . (h) To confuse; to disconcert; to interrupt; as, to put one out in reading or speaking . (i) (Law) To open; as, to put out lights, that is, to open or cut windows . Burrill. (j) (Medicine) To place out of joint; to dislocate; as, to put out the ankle. (k) To cause to cease playing, or to prevent from playing longer in a certain inning, as in base ball . -- To put over . (a) To place (some one) in authority over; as, to put a general over a division of an army. (b) To refer .

For the certain knowledge of that truth
I put you o'er to heaven and to my mother.

Shak.

(c) To defer; to postpone; as, the court put over the cause to the next term. (d) To transfer (a person or thing) across; as, to put one over the river . -- To put the hand to or unto . (a) To take hold of, as of an instrument of labor; as, to put the hand to the plow; hence, to engage in (any task or affair); as, to put one's hand to the work. (b) To take or seize, as in theft. "He hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods." Ex. xxii. 11. -- To put through , to cause to go through all conditions or stages of a progress; hence, to push to completion; to accomplish; as, he put through a measure of legislation; he put through a railroad enterprise. [ U.S.] -- To put to . (a) To add; to unite; as, to put one sum to another. (b) To refer to; to expose; as, to put the safety of the state to hazard . "That dares not put it to the touch." Montrose. (c) To attach (something) to; to harness beasts to. Dickens. -- To put to a stand , to stop; to arrest by obstacles or difficulties. -- To put to bed . (a) To undress and place in bed, as a child. (b) To deliver in, or to make ready for, childbirth . -- To put to death , to kill. -- To put together , to attach; to aggregate; to unite in one. -- To put this and that ( or two and two ) together , to draw an inference; to form a correct conclusion. -- To put to it , to distress; to press hard; to perplex; to give difficulty to. "O gentle lady, do not put me to 't ." Shak. -- To put to rights , to arrange in proper order; to settle or compose rightly. -- To put to the sword , to kill with the sword; to slay. -- To put to trial , or on trial , to bring to a test; to try. -- To put trust in , to confide in; to repose confidence in. -- To put up . (a) To pass unavenged; to overlook; not to punish or resent; to put up with; as, to put up indignities. [ Obsolete] "Such national injuries are not to be put up ." Addison. (b) To send forth or upward; as, to put up goods for sale. (d) To start from a cover, as game . "She has been frightened; she has been put up ." C. Kingsley. (e) To hoard. "Himself never put up any of the rent." Spelman. (f) To lay side or preserve; to pack away; to store; to pickle; as, to put up pork, beef, or fish. (g) To place out of sight, or away; to put in its proper place; as, put up that letter. Shak. (h) To incite; to instigate; -- followed by to ; as, he put the lad up to mischief. (i) To raise; to erect; to build; as, to put up a tent, or a house . (j) To lodge; to entertain; as, to put up travelers . -- To put up a job , to arrange a plot. [ Slang]

Syn. -- To place; set; lay; cause; produce; propose; state. -- Put , Lay , Place , Set . These words agree in the idea of fixing the position of some object, and are often used interchangeably. To put is the least definite, denoting merely to move to a place. To place has more particular reference to the precise location, as to put with care in a certain or proper place. To set or to lay may be used when there is special reference to the position of the object.

Put Put (put; often pŭt in def. 3) intransitive verb 1. To go or move; as, when the air first puts up. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

2. To steer; to direct one's course; to go.

His fury thus appeased, he puts to land.

Dryden.

3. To play a card or a hand in the game called put .

To put about (Nautical) , to change direction; to tack. -- To put back (Nautical) , to turn back; to return. "The French . . . had put back to Toulon." Southey. -- To put forth . (a) To shoot, bud, or germinate . "Take earth from under walls where nettles put forth ." Bacon. (b) To leave a port or haven, as a ship. Shak. -- To put in (Nautical) , to enter a harbor; to sail into port. -- To put in for . (a) To make a request or claim; as, to put in for a share of profits . (b) To go into covert; -- said of a bird escaping from a hawk . (c) To offer one's self; to stand as a candidate for. Locke. -- To put off , to go away; to depart; esp., to leave land, as a ship; to move from the shore. -- To put on , to hasten motion; to drive vehemently. -- To put over (Nautical) , to sail over or across. -- To put to sea (Nautical) , to set sail; to begin a voyage; to advance into the ocean. -- To put up . (a) To take lodgings; to lodge . (b) To offer one's self as a candidate . L'Estrange. -- To put up to , to advance to. [ Obsolete] "With this he put up to my lord." Swift. -- To put up with . (a) To overlook, or suffer without recompense, punishment, or resentment; as, to put up with an injury or affront . (b) To take without opposition or expressed dissatisfaction; to endure; as, to put up with bad fare.

Put Put noun 1. The act of putting; an action; a movement; a thrust; a push; as, the put of a ball. "A forced put ." L'Estrange.

2. A certain game at cards. Young.

3. A privilege which one party buys of another to "put" (deliver) to him a certain amount of stock, grain, etc., at a certain price and date. [ Brokers' Cant]

A put and a call may be combined in one instrument, the holder of which may either buy or sell as he chooses at the fixed price.

Johnson's Cyc.

Put Put noun [ Old French pute .] A prostitute. [ Obsolete]

Put-off Put"-off` noun A shift for evasion or delay; an evasion; an excuse. L'Estrange.

Put-up Put"-up adjective Arranged; plotted; -- in a bad sense; as, a put-up job. [ Colloq.]

Putage Pu"tage noun [ Old French putage .] Prostitution or fornication on the part of a woman.

Putamen Pu·ta"men noun [ Latin ] (Botany) The shell of a nut; the stone of a drupe fruit. See Endocarp .

Putanism Pu"tan·ism noun [ French putanisme , from putain harlot.] Habitual lewdness or prostitution of a woman; harlotry.

Putative Pu"ta·tive adjective [ Latin putativus , from putare , putatum , to reckon, suppose, adjust, prune, cleanse. See Pure , and confer Amputate , Compute , Dispute , Impute .] Commonly thought or deemed; supposed; reputed; as, the putative father of a child. "His other putative (I dare not say feigned) friends." E. Hall.

Thus things indifferent, being esteemed useful or pious, became customary, and then came for reverence into a putative and usurped authority.

Jer. Taylor.

Putchuck Put·chuck" noun (Botany) Same as Pachak .

Puteal Pu"te·al noun [ Latin , from puteus well.] (Architecture) An inclosure surrounding a well to prevent persons from falling into it; a well curb. Weale.

Puteli Put"e·li noun Same as Patela .

Putery Pu"ter·y noun [ Old French puterie .] Putage. [ Obsolete]

Putid Pu"tid adjective [ Latin putidus : confer French putide . Confer Putrid .] Rotten; fetid; stinking; base; worthless. Jer . Taylor . "Thy putid muse." Dr. H. More.

Putidity, Putidness Pu·tid"i·ty, Pu"tid·ness noun The quality or state of being putrid.

Putlog Put"log` noun (Architecture) One of the short pieces of timber on which the planks forming the floor of a scaffold are laid, -- one end resting on the ledger of the scaffold, and the other in a hole left in the wall temporarily for the purpose. Oxf. Gloss.

Putour Pu"tour noun [ See Put a prostitute.] A keeper of a brothel; a procurer. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Putredinous Pu·tred"i·nous adjective [ Latin putredo rottenness, from putrere to be rotten. See Putrid .] Proceeding from putrefaction, or partaking of the putrefactive process; having an offensive smell; stinking; rotten.

Putrefaction Pu`tre·fac"tion noun [ Latin putrefactio : confer French putréfaction . See Putrefy .] 1. The act or the process of putrefying; the offensive decay of albuminous or other matter.

» Putrefaction is a complex phenomenon involving a multiplicity of chemical reactions, always accompanied by, and without doubt caused by, bacteria and vibriones; hence, putrefaction is a form of fermentation, and is sometimes called putrefaction fermentative . Putrefaction is not possible under conditions that preclude the development of living organisms. Many of the products of putrefaction are powerful poisons, and are called cadaveric poisons , or ptomaïnes .

2. The condition of being putrefied; also, that which putrefied. " Putrefaction's breath." Shelley.

Putrefactive Pu`tre·fac"tive adjective [ Confer putréfactif . See Putrefy .] 1. Of or pertaining to putrefaction; as, the putrefactive smell or process. Wiseman.

2. Causing, or tending to promote, putrefaction.

-- Pu``tre*fac"tive*ness , noun

Putrefy Pu"tre·fy transitive verb [ Written also putrify .] [ imperfect & past participle Putrefied ; present participle & verbal noun Putrefying ] [ French putréfier ; Latin putrere to be rotten + - ficare (in. comp.) to make; confer Latin putrefacere . See Putrid , and -fy .] 1. To render putrid; to cause to decay offensively; to cause to be decomposed; to cause to rot.

2. To corrupt; to make foul.

Private suits do putrefy the public good.

Bacon.

They would but stink, and putrefy the air.

Shak.

3. To make morbid, carious, or gangrenous; as, to putrefy an ulcer or wound.

Putrefy Pu"tre·fy intransitive verb To become putrid; to decay offensively; to rot. Isa. 1. 6.

Putresce Pu·tresce" intransitive verb [ See Putrescent .] To become putrescent or putrid; to putrefy.

Ordinarily sewage does not putresce until from twenty-four to sixty hours after its discharge.

Nature.

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