put down & puts down putting down put down put down
1. put...down p.v. When you put something down, you put something in your hand or something that you are carrying on a horizontal surface.
The suitcase was so heavy that I had to put it down and rest for a minute.
Susie, put that knife down. It's dangerous!
2. put... down p.v. When you put people down, you criticize them.
Jim hates his stepfather and puts him down constantly. I'm not inviting Sam to any more parties. I hate the way he puts everyone down.
put-down n, A put-down is an insult or critical remark.
At the party Sam asked Nancy if she had made her dress from an old curtain.
What a put-down!
3. put... down (on) p.v. When you put money down or put money down on something, you pay a portion of the cost of something you want to buy to be sure that it will still be available to you when you are able to pay the rest of the cost.
The real estate agent asked me how much money I want to put down on the house.
I told her that I could put as much as $ 15,000 down.
4. put... down (on/for) p.v. When you add something to a list or other written material, you put it down or put it down on the list. When you add people to a list in order to assign something to them, you put them down or put them down for that assignment.
Melanie's collecting money for charity, so I told her to put me down for $50.
I'm making a list of volunteers to help reelect Senator Dolittle. Can I put your name down on the list?
5. put... down (on) p.v. When an airplane puts down or a pilot puts an airplane down, the airplane lands.
After the engine quit, the pilot looked for a place to put down.
Fortunately, the pilot was able to put the plane down on a frozen lake.
| Infinitive | ||||
| present tense | -ing form | past tense | past participle | |
| run down | ||||
| run down & runs down | running down | ran down | run down |
1. run down (to) p.v. When you move quickly to a lower level or place, you run down or run down to that place.
Mike was running down the stairs when he fell and broke his leg.
I saw someone trying to steal my car, and I ran down to the street to try to stop him.
2. run... down p.v. When vehicles or people driving vehicles hit and injure or kill someone, they run that person down.
The man was run down and killed by a speeding taxi.
Ali was arrested after he ran three people down.
3. run down p.v. When you discuss or review items on a list from the first to the last, you run down the list.
Let's run down the Christmas list and decide what to give everyone.
The teacher ran down the list of students and marked the ones who are failing.
rundown n. A rundown is a discussion or review of items on a list.
The consultant gave the manager a rundown of the problems she had found.
4. run down p.v. When batteries or machines run down or are run down by someone, they gradually lose power or energy.
Don't leave the car lights on for too long when the car isn't running or the battery will run down.
What time is it? My watch ran down last night.
rundown part.adj. A person or thing that is rundown is exhausted, without power or energy.
Maybe I need to go to the doctor; I feel so rundown all the time.
rundown part.adj. A rundown building or neighborhood is in poor condition because it has not been maintained.
I went back to my old neighborhood, and I was shocked to see how rundown it had become.
| Infinitive | ||||
| present tense | -ing form | past tense | past participle | |
| sit down | sit down & sits down | sitting down | sat down | sat down |
1. sit down p.v. When you sit down, you change from a standing position to a sitting position.
The teacher told his students to sit down and open their books.
I'm exhausted; I haven't sat down all day.
2. sit... down p.v. When you sit people down, you order them to sit, usually so that you can have a serious discussion.
When I found marijuana in my daughter's purse, I sat her down and had a serious talk with her.
The detective sat Hank down and began to interrogate him.
