putter
1to busy or occupy oneself in a leisurely, casual, or ineffective manner: to putter in the garden.
to move or go in a specified manner with ineffective action or little energy or purpose: to putter about the house on a rainy day.
to move or go slowly or aimlessly; loiter.
puttering or ineffective action; dawdling.
putter away, to spend or fill in a random, inconsequential, or unproductive way; fritter away; waste: We puttered the morning away.
Origin of putter
1- Also especially British, potter.
Other words from putter
- put·ter·er, noun
- put·ter·ing·ly, adverb
Other definitions for putter (2 of 3)
a person who putts.
a club with a relatively short, stiff shaft and a wooden or iron head, used in putting.
Origin of putter
2Other definitions for putter (3 of 3)
a person or thing that puts.
Track. a shot-putter.
Origin of putter
3Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use putter in a sentence
When the sky darkened and the lighted barges puttered away through the night, we three sat in the hammock.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom | Cory Doctorow
British Dictionary definitions for putter (1 of 3)
/ (ˈpʌtə) /
a club for putting, usually having a solid metal head
a golfer who putts
British Dictionary definitions for putter (2 of 3)
/ (ˈpʌtə) US and Canadian /
(intr; often foll by about or around) to busy oneself in a desultory though agreeable manner
(intr; often foll by along or about) to move with little energy or direction: to putter about town
(tr usually foll by away) to waste (time)
the act of puttering
Origin of putter
2- Equivalent term (in Britain and certain other countries): potter
British Dictionary definitions for putter (3 of 3)
/ (ˈpʊtə) /
a person who puts: the putter of a question
a person who puts the shot
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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