put on

Verb

put on (third-person singular simple present puts on, present participle putting on, simple past and past participle put on)

1. (transitive) To don (clothing, equipment, or the like).
   • Why don't you put on your jacket. It's cold.
   • And Iacob vowed a vow, ſaying, If God will be with me, and will keepe me in this way that I goe, and will giue me bꝛead to eate, and raiment to put on.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 22:5

   Synonyms:

   beclothe

2. (ditransitive, transitive) To decorate or dress (something) onto another person or a surface.
   • I put a coat on my daughter.
   • I put tinsel on the Christmas tree.
3. (intransitive, transitive) To fool, kid, deceive.
   • You must be putting me on.
   • She's putting on that she's sicker than she really is.

   Synonyms:

   hoodwink

4. (transitive) To assume, adopt or affect; to behave in a particular way as a pretense.
   • Why are you putting that silly voice on?
   • He's just putting on that limp -- his leg's actually fine.
5. (transitive) To play (a recording).
   • I'll put your favorite record on.
   • Can you put on The Sound of Music? I'd like to see it again.
6. (ditransitive, transitive) To play (a recording) on (a sound system).
   • I'll put blues on the stereo.
   • We usually put the Beatles on on my boombox.
7. (transitive) To initiate cooking or warming, especially on a stovetop.
   • I'll put on some coffee for everybody.
8. (transitive) To perform for an audience.
   • The actors put on a show last Saturday.
   • The actors will put Macbeth on only one more time.
9. (transitive) To organize a performance for an audience.
   • The theatre company is putting on Into the Woods this season.
   • The big and little inmates of the Edgewater Orphanage will receive a visit from St. Claus tonight, when members of the Townsmen Society of Norfolk, loaded down with toys and useful presents, will visit the institution to put on their annual Christmas party.1936 December 22, “Orphans Given Party Tonight: Members of Townsmen Society to Be Accompanied by Santa, with Pack”, in Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, volume CXLIII, number 83, Norfolk, Va., →OCLC, page 9...
10. (transitive) To provide.
    • Peterbough United have been playing at Lincoln, in something of a local derby. EMR has put on a six-car Class 158 as an additional train, to take 'Posh' fans home (Posh is the team's nickname, by the way).2024 April 17, “Rural railways: do they deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1007, page 58
11. (ditransitive, transitive) To bet (money or other items) on (something).
    • I put five pounds on that racehorse.
12. (ditransitive, transitive) To assign or apply (something) to a target.
    • The gang boss put some goons on the other gang.
    • The witch put a hex on me.