put batteries in someone's back
put batteries in someone's back verb: to enable, encourage, or incite, especially in order to do one's bidding; to fuel or spur.
Verb
put batteries in someone's back (third-person singular simple present puts batteries in someone's back, present participle putting batteries in someone's back, simple past and past participle put batteries in someone's back)
Synonyms of put batteries in someone's back
Forms of put batteries in someone's back
| third-person singular present | puts batteries in someone's back |
|---|---|
| present participle | putting batteries in someone's back |
| past participle | put batteries in someone's back |
| past | put batteries in someone's back |
Origin of put batteries in someone's back
From the analogy of placing batteries in a toy in order to get it to operate.
Questions about put batteries in someone's back
- What does put batteries in someone's back mean?
- Put batteries in someone's back means to enable, encourage, or incite, especially in order to do one's bidding; to fuel or spur.
- What part of speech is put batteries in someone's back?
- Put batteries in someone's back is a verb.
- What is the past tense of put batteries in someone's back?
- The past tense of put batteries in someone's back is put batteries in someone's back.
Words near put batteries in someone's back in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: put batteries in someone's back (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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