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Glite Dictionary
📦 To store 🚔 To imprison 🧘 To set aside 🌈 To euthanize 🍽️ To eat a lot
to put away

to put away

3 7.7
To end an animal's life to stop its suffering
  • phrasal verb
  • /pʊt əˈweɪ/
translation icon : eutanasiar
  • The owners made the difficult decision to put away their beloved cat when it could no longer walk due to pain.

Examples

  • Wasn't there an old dog put away by poison at Hindley about two years ago?

    The Paradine Case (1947)

  • After her long illness, the veterinarian suggested it was time to put away the old dog to prevent further suffering.

  • They had to put her away.

    The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)

  • Faced with the dog's incurable condition, the family agreed to put away their pet peacefully.

Synonyms

to destroy
vsto put away
197 4.6

Put an animal to death because it is seriously ill or dangerous

is the specific humane injected method to stop animal suffering
to put down
vsto put away
94 5.5

To kill an animal to stop its suffering

specifies ending by injection to prevent more suffering
to put to death
vsto put away
  • Offensive
46 7.6

To kill someone as a legal punishment

is not punitive but a humane medical ending for animals
to put to sleep
vsto put away
  • NSFW
25 5.8

Kill a sick or very old animal to stop its pain

focuses on humane injected ending to prevent further suffering
to euthanize
vsto put away
  • Specialized
22 8.5

Causing a person or animal to die without pain to stop suffering

is limited to animals and stresses a humane injected ending to stop suffering
to euthanatize
vsto put away
  • Specialized
9.9

To cause a painless death to stop a person or animal from suffering

is limited to animals and stresses a humane injected ending to stop suffering
to put out of someone's misery
vsto put away
  • NSFW
7.3

To stop someone's suffering or worry, sometimes by ending their life

refers only to humane animal killing by injection to prevent suffering

Antonyms

to save
∞ 1.0

Rescue someone or something from danger

How Humane

to euthanize
  • Specialized
22 8.5
to put away
3 7.7
to slaughter
60 3.9
to kill
  • NSFW
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

put away infinitive
put away past
put away past participle
putting away present participle
puts away third person singular

Morphology

put + away

The meaning 'to dismiss or set aside' is directly related to 'put' (place) + 'away' (to a removed/stored location), so a learner who knows both words can infer a concrete sense like 'put aside' or 'store'. However, the specific mental sense 'stop thinking about' is a metaphorical extension from the spatial meaning and may not be fully predictable without prior exposure to this figurative use, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Put away for animals may come from the gentle image of putting an animal away from pain, like placing it to rest. So it means 'to end the life of an animal humanely to stop its suffering'.