Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use putter in a sentence

16 example sentences · verb, noun

Putter means to be active, but not excessively busy, at a task or a series of tasks. Example: “'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.”

Examples of putter by meaning

verbTo be active, but not excessively busy, at a task or a series of tasks.

  • 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, pages...

nounOne who puts or places.

  • He was a model of anal defensiveness: fastidious in his dress and appearance, a collector and putter of things in order, a classifier and labeler.1995, Leonard Shengold, Delusions of Everyday Life, page 39

verbTo produce intermittent bursts of sound in the course of operating.

  • By the time the engine had puttered and died Atkins and some of the others were out of the trenches and walking towards this new wonder machine.2010, Pat Kelleher, “‘Some Corner of a Foreign Field …’”, in Black Hand Gang (No Man’s World), Osney Mead, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Abaddon...
  • He was alone, and after I puttered by, I glanced back to see him swagger into the middle of the path to watch me go.2017 March, Jennifer S. Holland, “For These Monkeys, It’s a Fight for Survival”, in National Geographic, archived from the original on 03...
  • My boyfriend, the cello owner, makes little noises while he putters around, which distracts me from reading my 20,000-word long-form articles about Iraq.2019 May 15, Olga Khazan, “What Happens When You Always Wear Headphones”, in The Atlantic

More sentences with putter

  • In this new passive role, Jack putters with his own work while Beth organizes her desk.1998, Judith Kolberg, Conquering Chronic Disorganization, 2nd edition, Decatur: Squall Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 108. From the entry body double
  • I gave him my putter earlier this year in Oklahoma City.1964 June 16, Arnold Palmer, quotee, “All Eyes On Lema At U.S. Open This Week”, in The Indianapolis Star, volume 62, number 11…. From the entry green
  • So you see, imagination needs ”moodling”— long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.1938, Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit. From the entry moodling
  • Sipperley pretty shirty when he came to and found that you had been soaking him with putters?1926, [P.G. Wodehouse], The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy. From the entry soak
  • I puttered around on the computer for a while, mostly playing match-four games instead of actually doing anything that resembled work.2021, Molly Fitz, Pet Whisperer P.I., unnumbered page. From the entry match-four game
  • Nautilids puttered along from that day to this, growing slowly, building thick shells, and laying large yolky eggs.2017, Danna Staaf, Squid Empire, ForeEdge, →ISBN, page 76. From the entry nautilid
  • As we putter along in our little crapmobile, I can hear Mom's thoughts as clearly as the newscaster's bland voice.1999, Graham McNamee, Hate you. From the entry crapmobile
  • I can't wait until I'm old enough to "putter around".1994 January 21, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes (comic). From the entry putter around
  • Sandy, you will never get anywhere by hunching over your putter, hold your shoulders back and bend from the waist.1961, Muriel Spark, chapter 5, in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, New York: HarperPerenniel, published 1994, page 156. From the entry hunch
  • Then Carter Chapman picked out his putter, stepped confidently up to the ball, sighted once along the ground, and made his stroke.1921 March, Octavus Roy Cohen, “Follow Through”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LXXII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey…. From the entry caddy
  • Because of its construction, the putter is said to eliminate the underspin, sidespin, skipping and skidding of the ball that other putters put on the ball.2000 April 12, Victoria Sun, “New putter gets some positive spin”, in Las Vegas Sun. From the entry overspin

Meaning of putter

  1. verb To be active, but not excessively busy, at a task or a series of tasks.
  2. noun One who puts or places.
  3. noun A shot-putter.

Full definition of putter

Questions about putter in a sentence

How do you use putter in a sentence?
Putter is used as a verb and noun. For example: “'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.”
What is a short sentence with putter?
“I can't wait until I'm old enough to "putter around".”
What does putter mean?
Putter means to be active, but not excessively busy, at a task or a series of tasks.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: putter (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use putter in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/putter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.