🧥 To dress 🎭 To organize 🚗 To increase mileage ☕ To start heating ⚖️ To gain weight 🎶 To play music ➕ To add 😏 To trick

to put on

34 1.7

To add something to a building to make it larger

phrasal verb
/pʊt ɑn/

: añadir

Many of the items stolen during the blackouts were put on sale on Craigslist.

All right, Pam Bondi's own link that she put on Twitter, let's put this up.

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Examples

We'll now put on our second layer of pipes.
To complete the cake, you need to put on a layer of frosting.
Now this Monday night, we're putting on a wonderful play.

Cookie's Fortune (1999)
Now, put on the shoes.

Ordinary Angels (2024)
I want my sign fixed up and put on that wall over the kitchen door.

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
So I'm going to put on the sound for the TV that way.
And then the final, final step is to put on this lip oil.
Now put on the mask.

Scream VI (2023)
All right, so with it clean, now we can put on our thermal lava here.
Unscrew it, pop off the legs and put on the wheels.

Synonyms

to add

vsto put on

∞ 1.0

Include something extra to make something larger or better

focuses more on attaching to an existing object to enlarge it

to stick on

vsto put on

25 2.7

Put something on a surface so it stays in place

is broader, covering adding items to existing things for enlargement or extension

to superimpose

vsto put on

24 6.7

To put one thing on top of another so both are visible

focuses on adding or attaching to enlarge rather than layering visibly

to tack on

vsto put on

19 4.1

Add something extra that was not planned

is the neutral term for attaching items to extend existing things

to affix

vsto put on

18 5.0

To attach something to another thing by sticking or fastening it

covers adding or attaching often to make something larger rather than just fastening

to extend

vsto put on

11 5.1

To make food or a dish go further by adding cheap ingredients

refers generally to attaching or adding to enlarge, not diluting or bulking up

to add on

vsto put on

9 3.2

To attach something extra to what already exists

is used when the action aims to extend or enlarge something

to append

vsto put on

7 4.6

To add something to the end of a document or list

is more general and applies to attaching in many positions, not only the end

to annex

vsto put on

6 6.9

To add a smaller area or building to a larger place

is less formal and used for general attaching to extend or enlarge

to tag on

vsto put on

Informal

2 3.4

To add something extra at the end

is neutral and can describe planned or functional attachment to enlarge

to paste up

vsto put on

1 4.5

Attach posters or papers to a wall using glue

is broader and not limited to adhesive display methods

Antonyms

to remove

∞ 1.5

To move something or someone away from a place

How Much

to expand

805 2.5

to extend

11 5.1

to add

∞ 1.0

to put on

34 1.7

to append

7 4.6

to stick on

25 2.7

Surface Forms

put on infinitive

put on past

put on past participle

putting on present participle

puts on third person singular

Morphology

put + on

The basic sense 'to dress oneself' is directly derivable from combining 'put' (place) with 'on' (onto the body) and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows both words. However, extended senses like 'put on a show' (to stage/present) or idiomatic uses (e.g. 'put on' meaning to pretend) involve metaphorical extension and phrasal-verb idiosyncrasy that are not fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

The phrasal verb put on meaning to add something comes from fitting a new piece onto an old one, like fixing a balcony to a house. You put the new part on the building, so it means 'to attach' or 'to add'.