Also: Put something off
Meaning of Idiom ‘Put Off Something’
To put off something means to postpone it; to delay something; to hold for a later time. 1Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,2Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms]. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013
Usage
As suggested by the variant listed above, you can put off something or put something off. For example:
“Tim decided to put off cleaning the garage until next week.”
“Tim put his chores off until tomorrow.”
Note that to put off is not the opposite of ‘to put on.’ Also compare put someone off.
Examples of Use
“I’m going to have to put off my vacation for now. I’m just too busy.”
“We have decided to put off our move to a new headquarters until we can find a more suitable location,” said the CEO.
“I always put off having children until the time was right but the time was never right.”
“Once you get to college you’ll have to stop putting things off to the last minute.”
Origin
Used since the late 1300s. 3Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms]. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013
More Idioms Starting with P
More Off Idioms
More Put Idioms
Sources
| 1. | ↲ | Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010. |
| 2, 3. | ↲ | Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms]. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013 |