Word.ws English Dictionary

put the pot on

put the pot on verb: to exaggerate.

Verb

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

  1. (archaic, slang) To exaggerate.
  2. (archaic, slang) To overcharge.
  3. (archaic, slang) To bet an excessive amount of money.
    • The Baronet neither owned Artemis nor any other horse, nor did he now bet on horse-races; though he had solaced himself for those acts of self-denial by 'putting the pot on' at cards and all other 'events' concerning which wagers were possible.1880, Belgravia, volume 41, page 23

Forms of put the pot on

third-person singular presentputs the pot on
present participleputting the pot on
past participleput the pot on
pastput the pot on

Questions about put the pot on

What does put the pot on mean?
Put the pot on means to exaggerate.
What part of speech is put the pot on?
Put the pot on is a verb.
What is the past tense of put the pot on?
The past tense of put the pot on is put the pot on.

Words near put the pot on in the dictionary

  1. put the miller's eye out
  2. put the moves on
  3. put the pedal to the medal
  4. put the pedal to the metal
  5. put the plug in the jug
  6. put the pot on
  7. put the question to
  8. put the record straight
  9. put the saddle on the right horse
  10. put the same shoe on every foot
  11. put the screw

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: put the pot on (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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