This video explains the meaning and use of the phrasal verb 'put away' in English. We show you how to use it with some easy examples to help you learn this phrasal verb so you can use it in spoken and Business English.
The phrasal verb 'put away' can mean to place something somewhere to store it while it is not in use. You can also 'put away money', meaning to save money for a particular purpose. You can also use 'put away' to talk about the amount of food or drink that people can ingest at one sitting. If a person is 'put away', it usually refers to them being imprisoned or institutionalized because of criminal behaviour or severe mental illness. In informal sporting contexts, you can say that someone 'put away' a goal or a point during a match or a game. In American English, to 'put someone away' is an informal, colloquial way of saying 'to kill someone'.
Additional examples with 'put away' are:
At home, after dinner, you are cleaning up and you ask for some help:
"If I wash the dishes, would you mind putting them away?"
You are talking to your friend about saving so you can travel next year:
"I am putting away a lot of my salary each month so I don't have to work while I am backpacking."
Your teammate scored two goals in their first football game:
"I can't believe you put away two goals in your first game with us!"