Word.ws English Dictionary

putting the boot in

putting the boot in is the present participle and gerund of put the boot in.

Meaning of put the boot in

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic, intransitive, slang) To kick a fallen opponent.
  2. (figuratively, intransitive, slang) To kick someone when they are down.

Questions about putting the boot in

What is putting the boot in the present participle and gerund of?
Putting the boot in is the present participle and gerund of put the boot in.

Words near putting the boot in in the dictionary

  1. putting the arm on someone
  2. putting the bad mouth on
  3. putting the bee on
  4. putting the beggar on the gentleman
  5. putting the bite on
  6. putting the boot in
  7. putting the bottom rail on top
  8. putting the brakes on
  9. putting the cabosh on
  10. putting the cart before the horse
  11. putting the case

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: putting the boot in (page history and authors); put the boot in (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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Cite this entry: “putting the boot in.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/putting_the_boot_in. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.