put away

To return something to the place where it is kept when you finish using it.

• Put away your toys, please.
• He put the clean dishes away.
• Have you put away the tools yet?

How to use it: put something away (Please put your books away after class.)

Similar words: tidy away, store

Opposites: take out

Common phrases: put away something, put away toys

To save money or other things so you can use them later.

• I put away a little money each week.
• They put food away for the winter.
• Have you put anything away for emergencies?

How to use it: put something away for something (We put some money away for our holiday.)

Similar words: save, set aside, store

Opposites: spend

Common phrases: put away money, put away something

If someone is sent to prison or a hospital for mental illness, they are kept there.

• They put the robber away.
• He was put away for twenty years.
• In those days, families sometimes put mentally ill relatives away.

How to use it: put someone away for a period (The judge put him away for eight years.)

Similar words: lock up, confine, imprison

Opposites: release

Common phrases: put away someone, put someone away

If you do this, you eat or drink a lot of something.

• He put away five burgers.
• How much beer did they put away?
• She can put away an enormous breakfast.

How to use it: put away something (He can put away three sandwiches in minutes.); put something away (That pizza was huge, but she put it away.)

Similar words: devour, consume

Common phrases: put away food, put away a meal, put away several beers

To hit an opponent so hard that they cannot continue fighting.

• The boxer put his opponent away.
• One powerful punch put her away.
• Can he put away the champion before the final round?

How to use it: put someone away in a round (She put her opponent away in the third round.)

Similar words: knock out

Common phrases: put away an opponent, put someone away

To kill someone, often deliberately and secretly.

• The gang put him away.
• They planned to put away the only witness.
• Was she paid to put her rival away?

How to use it: put someone away (The gang hired a man to put the witness away.)

Similar words: kill, murder

Common phrases: put away someone, put someone away