The Phrasal Verb 'Put Away' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Sep 12
- 11 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'put away' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
How well do you know the English phrasal verb 'put away'? Do you think that you know it well or would it surprise you to learn that it has at least 6 different meanings? In this post, I will explain all of these meanings to you, including the super common ones, the informal ones and one that is so rare that I hadn't even heard of it! In addition, I give you lots of example sentences to show you how to use each one in a natural way. So, without further ado, let's make a start....
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one)
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THE BASICS
PUT AWAY: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 6 |
Past tense forms | Put away / Put away |
Separable? | Yes |
In this post, I will be explaining to you the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'put away' and to get a better understanding of how we arrive at these meanings, let's first consider the words 'put' and 'away' and what they mean individually.
'To put' is a very common verb in English that is a little similar to the verb 'to get' in the sense that native speakers love using it and it has many meanings. Probably its main meaning is 'to place something in, or move something to, a specific position'. Some of the other main meanings of 'to put' include 'to write something' and 'to cause to be in a state or situation', however there are many other uses for it that one day in the future I may write about on a separate blog but for the moment we don't need to worry about them 😀
Where did you put my car keys?
Joan put the cake in the oven.
What can I put in this email to respond to this customer?
That was beautifully put, you should be a writer!
You need to put stress on the final syllable of the word.
The prepositional particle 'away' is not one that features in many phrasal verbs but nevertheless I am sure that you are very familiar with it as it is a common English word. At its core, 'away' is all about moving from a place or being in a different place to where the speaker is. A secondary sub-meaning of 'away' that is relevant for this article is 'to be in the usual place of storage, often where it cannot be seen'. Often when it is part of a phrasal verb, 'away' implies a movement from a particular place (run away), however it can also be used to add ideas like disappearance or reduction (fade away) and a continuation of an action (chat away).
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's look at the different meanings of 'put away'....
MEANING 1: To put something where it is normally stored
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To put back, to tidy away |
Separable? | Yes |
After reading the Basics section just now, you will hopefully see that this first application of the phrasal verb 'put away' is more or less a literal combination of 'put' and 'away' as it means 'to put something where it is normally stored'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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This application is one that is probably most heard in people's homes and refers to the action of placing something back into it's designated place of storage after you have finished using it. Usually, this is when the place of storage is one that is not openly on display in the house, such as inside a cupboard, box or drawer.
Although I have included some commonly used nouns with this application in the list above, this is just a generalisation and in reality it is almost endless as 'put away' in this sense could refer to anything that is kept in a specific place when it is not in use.
For instance, any of you who have or have had children will likely be familiar with putting away their toys after they have finished playing with them. Alternatively, you may have to put your clothes away after they have been cleaned and dried or you may need to put the Christmas decorations away after the festive period is over. As you can imagine, putting things away is a part of the action of another phrasal verb: tidying up.
One other noun that is frequently heard with this application is 'shopping', which refers to the grocery shopping that we buy from a shop or supermarket rather than clothes etc. When we first get home from the supermarket, we need to put the items away in the fridge, freezer, cupboards etc.
After dinner, Sally put away the dishes in the cupboard.
Please put away your toys before bedtime.
Jeremy put away the groceries as soon as he got home.
Don’t forget to put your clothes away after folding them.
I always put away my laptop when I’ve finished with it.
My books were put away neatly on the shelf.
Libby put away her winter coats when spring arrived.
Kevin put away the tools in the garage after fixing his car.
MEANING 2: To imprison someone
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To send down, to imprison, to lock up, to incarcerate, to section |
Separable? | Yes |
Let's now move on to our second meaning of the phrasal verb 'put away', which means 'to imprison someone' but as you will learn, it doesn't always mean to send a criminal to jail.
Of course, we do often use this phrasal verb application most commonly with reference to criminals and sending them to jail once they have been found guilty of a crime. You could argue that this is quite similar to the first application in the sense that people who commit crimes should be removed from open society and put somewhere away from the rest of us.
On a grammatical level, as we are often talking about the criminal with this application, we frequently use it in the passive voice.
The judge put the bank robber away for ten years.
The police finally caught the criminal and put him away.
If Steve commits another crime, he’ll be put away for life.
The gang leader was put away thanks largely to the witness’s testimony.
Kate hopes that the new evidence will put the dangerous killer away for good.
The police have been working hard to put away the local drug dealers.
Kyle was classed as a repeat offender, so the court decided to put him away.
They put away several corrupt officials as a result of the investigation.
As I mentioned earlier, this application of 'put away' is not just used for criminals and is in fact used to talk about when we remove people from society in general. For example, we can put mentally ill people away in mental hospitals or old people in residential care homes where they can be looked after and will be much better off than if they were still living on the outside.
You should note that using this particular application in this way is very informal and could be perceived as insensitive or cruel by people, so I would avoid using this unless you really know the people with whom you are talking.
In the past, people with mental illnesses were often put away in asylums.
Barbara feared that her family would put her away if her condition got worse.
Many elderly people used to be put away in institutions rather than cared for at home.
Decades ago, children with disabilities were sometimes put away in special homes.
Liam was put away in a psychiatric hospital after the incident.
MEANING 3: To save money
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To save, to put aside |
Separable? | Yes |
Something that I would advise anybody to do if they are able to is to save and invest money and this third application of 'put away' is one that comes in very handy here as it simply means 'to save money'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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To clarify further, if you put money away, you are putting money into a bank account, savings account, investment fund or even a piggy bank so that you can spend it in the future. You may even hear people using the expression 'to put money away for a rainy day'.
Note that you don't need to state where or how you are saving the money e.g. bank account or savings fund with this application, however you can do if you wish. Normally, we use it just to say that we have some money saved.
Amy tries to put away a little money each month for emergencies.
Phil managed to put away enough last year to buy a new car.
If you put away £50 a week, you’ll have quite a sum by the end of the year.
Thelma and Mick have been putting away money for their children’s education since they were born.
I decided to put away some of my bonus instead of spending it all.
By the time she retired, Gillian had put away a comfortable nest egg.
We need to put away extra cash for our holiday to Greece next month.
Lionel puts away part of every pay check into a savings account.
MEANING 4: To eat or drink a large amount
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To feast |
Separable? | Yes |
This fourth meaning of the phrasal verb 'put away' that we will look at in this post is an another informal one that means 'to eat or drink a large amount'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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I would say that the majority of the time that this application of 'put away' is used, it is to brag or show off about how much a person can eat or drink.
For example, imagine a group of young men who are out in a bar or at a party. They all want to impress each other by talking about how many pints of beer they can drink, or put away. Of course, this is a massive generalisation and not all groups of young men will do this but I'm sure you get the idea.
Alternatively, 'put away' can also be used in this way to express surprise or amazement at how much a person can consume, eat or drink, especially when you don't expect that person to be able to do so. For example, you may see a skinny or very thin person who you think would not eat much but who is actually able to put away a 4-course meal and then eat the rest of their friend's meal and all of the chocolates at the end. I've seen it happen with my own eyes!
Remember that this usage is extremely informal and should be avoided in informal situations and when talking to people with whom you need to show respect.
Adam can really put away a big breakfast.
Suzanne put away three slices of cake without hesitation.
They put away a whole pizza in just ten minutes.
I couldn’t believe how much pasta he put away last night.
Sarah put away two bottles of wine and hit the dance floor.
Ryan put away half a loaf of bread all by himself.
Alex claimed that he could put away 6 pints of beer in an hour and still be sober, however he tried and failed.
Paul’s so skinny, but he can put away more food than anyone I know.
MEANING 5: To euthanise an animal
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To put down, to euthanise |
Separable? | Yes |
This fifth and penultimate usage of 'put away' is quite a rare one that means to 'to euthanise an animal'.
Let me start here by clarifying what the verb 'to euthanise' means and that is to kill a human or animal in a humane and painless way, normally by a lethal injection. This is typically because of a terminal illness to avoid the person or animal suffering a painful and extremely unpleasant death. So, when you are putting an animal away, you are doing the same thing, normally at the vets.
I have to confess that before researching this blog article I had never heard of this usage of 'put away' and if you had said to me that you were putting your dog away, I would have assumed that you meant that you were putting it in it's kennel away from the house. I have researched this though and it does appear to be used, so I have included it in this article. I should stress however that I would avoid using it as it could create confusion with native speakers due to how rare and unknown it is. It's possible that you may come across it yourselves somewhere though and so at least you can be aware of it if you do.
For reference, I would use the synonyms 'put down' or 'put to sleep' most commonly here.
They had to put their old cat away after a long illness.
Amanda cried when her horse was finally put away.
The shelter put away several animals that couldn’t be rehomed.
MEANING 6: To score a goal
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To score |
Separable? | Yes |
We will end this post with an application for all of those among you who love sport, in particular football (soccer) as this final meaning is 'to score a goal'.
Again, as with many of the other meanings of 'put away' that we have looked at, this usage is very informal and probably not one that you will hear many television commentators using much. It is often heard in situations in which there have been several failed attempts to score beforehand.
One final thing to note here is that this usage is slightly different depending on where you are in the world. In British English, this is most commonly heard in football. However, in North American English where football (soccer) is less popular, it is used more for sports like ice hockey and basketball to mean to win a game or a match, rather than to score a goal or point.
The striker put away his first goal of the game after a brilliant pass.
He calmly put away the ball into the bottom corner.
Madeleine put away the winning shot to seal the match.
The forwarder should have put that goal away; I don't know how he missed!
They failed to put away several easy opportunities.
Pete put away the cross with a powerful header.
The ice hockey team put the game away in the final quarter.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'put away'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'put away'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END
He was put away after having been found guilty.