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

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

Putlog 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 noun [ See Put a prostitute.] A keeper of a brothel; a procurer. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Putredinous 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 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 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 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 intransitive verb To become putrid; to decay offensively; to rot. Isa. 1. 6.

Putresce 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.

Putrescence noun The state of being putrescent; putrescent matter.

Putrescent adjective [ Latin putrescens , present participleof putrescere to grow rotten, v. incho. from putrere to be rotten. See Putrid .]
1. Becoming putrid or rotten.

Externally powerful, although putrescent at the core.

Motley.

2. Of or pertaining to the process of putrefaction; as, a putrescent smell.

Putrescible adjective Capable of putrefaction; liable to become putrid; as, putrescible substances.

Putrescible noun A substance, usually nitrogenous, which is liable to undergo decomposition when in contact with air and moisture at ordinary temperatures.

Putrescin noun (Physiol. Chem.) A nontoxic diamine, C ₄ H ₁₂ N ₂ , formed in the putrefaction of the flesh of mammals and some other animals.

Putrid adjective [ Latin putridus , fr . putrere to be rotten, from puter , or putris , rotten, fr . putere to stink, to be rotten: confer French putride . See Pus , Foul , adjective ]
1. Tending to decomposition or decay; decomposed; rotten; -- said of animal or vegetable matter; as, putrid flesh. See Putrefaction .

2. Indicating or proceeding from a decayed state of animal or vegetable matter; as, a putrid smell.

Putrid fever (Medicine) , typhus fever; -- so called from the decomposing and offensive state of the discharges and diseased textures of the body. -- Putrid sore throat (Medicine) , a gangrenous inflammation of the fauces and pharynx.

Putridity noun [ Confer French putridité .] The quality of being putrid; putrefaction; rottenness.

Putridness noun Putridity. Floyer.

Putrifacted adjective [ See Putrefy .] Putrefied. [ Obsolete]

What vermin bred of putrifacted slime.

Marston.

Putrification noun Putrefaction.

Putrify transitive verb & i. To putrefy.

Putrilage noun [ French putrilage , Latin putrilago putrefaction.] That which is undergoing putrefaction; the products of putrefaction.

Putry adjective Putrid. [ Obsolete] Marston.

Putry noun Putage. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Putt noun [ Confer Put , transitive verb ] (Golf) A stroke made on the putting green to play the ball into a hole.

Putt intransitive verb (Golf) To make a putt.

Puttee noun Same as Putty , a kind of gaiter.

Putter noun
1. One who puts or plates.

2. Specifically, one who pushes the small wagons in a coal mine, and the like. [ Prov. Eng.]

Putter intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Puttered ; present participle & verbal noun Puttering .] [ See Potter .] To act inefficiently or idly; to trifle; to potter.

Putter noun (Golf) (a) A club with a short shaft and either a wooden or a metal head, used in putting. (b) One who putts.

Putter-on noun An instigator. Shak.

Puttier noun One who putties; a glazier.

Putting noun The throwing of a heavy stone, shot, etc., with the hand raised or extended from the shoulder; -- originally, a Scottish game.

Putting stone , a heavy stone used in the game of putting.

Putting green (Golf) The green, or plot of smooth turf, surrounding a hole. "The term putting green shall mean the ground within twenty yards of the hole, excepting hazards." Golf Rules.

Puttock noun [ Confer Pout a young bird, Poult .] (Zoology) (a) The European kite. (b) The buzzard. (c) The marsh harrier. [ Prov. Eng.]

Puttock noun (Nautical) See Futtock . [ Obsolete]

Putty noun [ French potée , from pot pot; what was formerly called putty being a substance resembling what is now called putty powder , and in part made of the metal of old pots. See Pot .] A kind of thick paste or cement compounded of whiting, or soft carbonate of lime, and linseed oil, when applied beaten or kneaded to the consistence of dough, -- used in fastening glass in sashes, stopping crevices, and for similar purposes.

Putty powder , an oxide of tin, or of tin and lead in various proportions, much used in polishing glass, metal, precious stones, etc.

Putty transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Puttied ; present participle & verbal noun Puttying .] To cement, or stop, with putty.

Putty noun (Golf) A ball made of composition and not gutta percha. [ Colloq.]

Putty noun ; plural Putties . [ Written also puttee , puttie .] [ Hind. patti ribbon, brace, tie.] A kind of gaiter of waterproof cloth wrapped around the leg, used by soldiers, etc.

Putty-faced adjective White-faced; -- used contemptuously. Clarke.

Puttyroot noun (Botany) An American orchidaceous plant ( Aplectrum hyemale ) which flowers in early summer. Its slender naked rootstock produces each year a solid corm, filled with exceedingly glutinous matter, which sends up later a single large oval evergreen plaited leaf. Called also Adam-and-Eve .

Puy noun See Poy .

Puzzel noun [ Confer French pucelle a virgin.] A harlot; a drab; a hussy. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Puzzle noun [ For opposal , in the sense of problem. See Oppose , Pose , v. ]
1. Something which perplexes or embarrasses; especially, a toy or a problem contrived for testing ingenuity; also, something exhibiting marvelous skill in making.

2. The state of being puzzled; perplexity; as, to be in a puzzle .

Puzzle transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Puzzled ; present participle & verbal noun Puzzling .]
1. To perplex; to confuse; to embarrass; to put to a stand; to nonplus.

A very shrewd disputant in those points is dexterous in puzzling others.

Dr. H. More.

He is perpetually puzzled and perplexed amidst his own blunders.

Addison.

2. To make intricate; to entangle.

They disentangle from the puzzled skein.

Cowper.

The ways of Heaven are dark and intricate,
Puzzled in mazes, and perplexed with error.

Addison.

3. To solve by ingenuity, as a puzzle; -- followed by out ; as, to puzzle out a mystery.

Syn. -- To embarrass; perplex; confuse; bewilder; confound. See Embarrass .

Puzzle intransitive verb
1. To be bewildered, or perplexed.

A puzzling fool, that heeds nothing.

L'Estrange.

2. To work, as at a puzzle; as, to puzzle over a problem.

Puzzle-headed adjective Having the head full of confused notions. Johnson.

Puzzledom noun The domain of puzzles; puzzles, collectively. C. Kingsley.