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put on

A2 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

To dress yourself or start something playing; also to act as if you feel something you don't really feel.

Literal meaning: To place something on top of something else — transparent in the clothing sense.

Meanings

1 A2 neutral

To dress oneself in a piece of clothing or accessory.

"Put on your jacket — it's freezing outside."

Grammar: separable
2 A2 neutral

To start playing music, a film, or a recording device.

"He put on some jazz while we cooked dinner."

Grammar: separable
3 B1 neutral

To organize or stage a performance, event, or show.

"The drama club put on an incredible production of Hamlet last year."

Grammar: separable
4 B1 idiomatic informal

To pretend or fake an emotion, accent, or manner of behaving.

"She's not really hurt — she's just putting it on to get attention."

Grammar: separable
5 B1 idiomatic neutral

To gain weight.

"I always put on a few kilos over the Christmas holidays."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Extremely common and versatile. Separable: 'put on your coat' or 'put your coat on.' In the pretending sense, 'she's putting it on' is very common in British English. Also used for gaining weight: 'put on weight.'

Commonly used with

coat weight show accent music kettle

Forms

Base
put on
I/you/we/they
3rd person
puts on
he/she/it
Past simple
put on
yesterday
Past participle
put on
have + pp
-ing form
putting on
continuous

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Synonyms

slip on don start up perform stage feign

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