Put Out

Put Out

When I hear this expression, the first thing that comes to mind is the image of a fire being extinguished. I also know that this phrasal verb means “to bother someone”. I didn’t really know how else to use this expression, but I found out that it has so many meanings. I’d like to list them all here and try to understand them from a broader perspective.

1. to remove or expel (office, employment, or possession)
2. to blind (an eye)

3. to extinguish

4. to put (a person) to trouble

5. to cause (a batter or runner) to be out

6. to knock out

7. to publish or broadcast
8. to send (one’s child) to be nursed by another woman
9. to pay out

10. to set off from the land

11. to bring effort
12. to sprout

13. to produce a particular amount of power

14. (slang) to offer or consent to sexual intercourse

I think we can divide them into several categories. First, it means “to remove something from its normal or current position, especially in a negative way” (1, 2, 3). The meanings of 4 and (5 and 6) are a bit similar, meaning something like “to cause trouble for someone”. The meanings of 7 to 10 have a kind of “out-oriented” meaning. 11 through 13 are “to produce something in a positive way. In general, a phrasal verb like this tends to have several meanings related to sex and drugs, which in this case, is meaning 14.