puttyn.
/ˈpʌti/, U.S. /ˈpədi/ 1. A fine mortar or cement made of lime and water without sand, used in pointing brickwork, etc. Also plasterer's putty.Recorded first in putty dish n. a dish for mixing mortar.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > cement or mortar > [noun] > other kinds of cement or mortar
maltha?1440
testacyec1440
putty1472
tarras1612
natural cement1753
Roman cement1768
sand mortar1775
Roman cement1800
Parker's cement1811
mastic cement1815
gauge-stuff1823
Portland cement1824
putty cement1825
rust cement1830
matrix1838
terro-cement1838
rust1839
swish1863
Coaguline1868
albolith1870
dagga1878
mastic1881
tripolith1882
grappier1897
pozzolana cement1905
Ciment Fondu1924
snowcrete1928
soil-cement1936
1472 in J. Raine Fabric Rolls York Minster (1859) 78 (MED) Pro discis vocatis puty disches et scopis emptis pro cementariis.
a1634 T. Gerard Particular Descr. Somerset (1900) 131 With them putte was soft dyett, which name wee still conserve in a wett and liquid morter for cementing stones together by Masons called Puttey.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 145 To mingle water and lime and not to temper it too thicke, but to make it thinne like unto puttie.
1748 B. Langley London Prices 33 Fine Mortar, called Putty, for rubbed and gauged Works, made of Lime only.
1760 Philos. Trans. 1759 (Royal Soc.) 51 47 What the bricklayers call fine stuff, or putty. [Note] Putty is lime slacked, and, while warm, dissolved in water, and strained through a sieve.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 612 A thin and smooth coat spread over it, consisting of lime only, or, as the workmen call it, putty, or set.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §1201 The mortar used for the white lines [in pointing] is what is technically called ‘putty’, that is to say, plasterer's putty, and not glazier's putty.
1944 W. Morgan in R. Greenhalgh Pract. Builder ix. 300/1 Purchased either in lump form and slaked to putty on the job—the putty being allowed to mature for three weeks or more before being used.
1976 Leonardo 9 189/2 For portable mosaics, lighter cementing materials may be used, for instance a certain mastic, not glazier's putty but a kind of plasterer's putty.
1996 Chem. in Brit. Sept. 29/3 We opted to use an alternative longer term sacrificial plaster made of lime putty mixed with sepiolite clay, porous chalk, and Bath lime-stone aggregates.
2. In full putty powder. An abrasive powder composed of tin oxide, or of tin and lead oxides, used for polishing glass or metal. Also jeweller's putty n. at jeweller n. Compounds 2, †putty of tin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > polishing > [noun] > polish > types of
pumice1422
emery1481
foam of copperas1538
pumex1589
emery-stone1610
smiris1610
putty1663
rottenstone1677
tutty1731
French rouge?1745
rotstone1767
plate powder1786
emery-powder18..
rouge1808
waxing1825
black lead1830
tin-putty1839
red stuff1844
stove-polish1858
crocusa1861
crocus-powder1873
furniture cream1873
grit-emery1884
silver polish1895
Ronuk1896
Brasso1905
floor polish1907
lavender cream1926
lavender polish1961
lavender wax1970
1663 R. Boyle Exper. & Consid. Colours ii. xiii The common putty, that is sold and used so much in shops, instead of being, as it is pretended and ought to be, only the calx of tin, is by the artificers that make it, to save the charge of tin, made..but of half tin and half lead, if not far more lead than tin.
1670 J. Flamsteed Let. 24 Jan. in Corr. (1995) I. 33 I entend to grind with ordinary sand fine dressed, and polish first with chalke after with Putty.
1763 W. Lewis Commercium Philosophico-technicum 58 Fine powder, called putty prepared by calcining a mixture of lead and tin.
1778 J. Aikin tr. A. Beaumé Man. Chem. 144 The calx acquires a white colour, and a good deal of hardness, and is then called putty. This is used for polishing glass, steel, and other hard bodies.
1823 Times 8 Oct. 4/4 (advt.) All the genuine stock in trade of an oil and colour man, comprising white lead, pipe lead, Prussian blue,..putty powder, &c.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1241 When [tin is] heated to redness, with free access of air, it absorbs oxygen with rapidity, and changes first into a pulverulent gray protoxide, and by longer ignition, into a yellow-white powder, called putty of tin.
1871 J. T. Trowbridge Lawrence's Adventures iii. viii. 80 Here the surface is polished on a wooden wheel... For the finest work, a cork wheel is used, with what we call putty,—a paste composed of lead and tin.
1889 Newark (Ohio) Daily Advocate 8 Mar. Jeweler's putty is oxide of tin.
1937 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 160 511 Carborundum..is definitely more efficient in increasing the reflexion of a silica surface than rouge or putty powder used in the same way.
1971 Country Life 9 Sept. 638/3 Transparency was restored by polishing with a wheel of cork fed with putty powder and water.
2003 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 24 Aug. 8/2 Putty powder (tin oxide) can be used to polish dulled or etched surfaces... However, it's very hard to find.
3.
a. A stiff, malleable greyish-yellow paste composed of finely powdered chalk mixed with raw linseed oil (or occasionally other ingredients), hardening after a few hours, and used esp. in fixing panes of glass, filling holes in woodwork, etc.; also glazier's putty. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > cement or mortar > [noun] > material resembling cement > putty
putty1706
society > authority > subjection > obedience > manageability > [noun] > malleability > person or thing
ball of wax1835
putty1924
Silly Putty1958
1665 R. Pratt Notebk. in R. T. Gunther Archit. R. Pratt (1928) 273 They [sc. mouldings]..are to be set most closely..and upon any shrinking all is at last to be well stopped with putty.
1671 J. Brown Horologiographia viii. 165 Let the Superficies of the Glass lie just so high as the Center of the Quadrant was..and put some Putty under it.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Putty,..also a kind of Composition that Painters made use of to stop up Holes in Wood, &c.
1766 in C. R. Lounsbury Illustr. Gloss. Early Southern Archit. & Landscape (1994) 298 [Church windows were] to be glazed with Crown Glass & to be put in with such Putty as will be proof against Wind & water.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 258 The nails are driven in a little below the surface of these boards, and the cavity is filled with glazier's putty.
1881 R. L. Stevenson Virginibus Puerisque 105 They must have been feeble fellows—creatures made of putty and packthread, without steel or fire, anger or true joyfulness, in their composition.
1924 H. Crane Let. 3 Feb. (1965) 173 I was quite exemplary of both sides of my family in not being made of any putty—knowing what I want to do, and sticking it out.
1933 A. M. Lindbergh Let. 5 Dec. in Locked Rooms & Open Doors (1974) 169 Then he seals up the anchor box with putty to keep the water out.
1992 Family Handyman Jan. 16/2 Thoroughly scrape and remove all the old putty and paint.
b. to be putty (also to be like putty) in a person's hands: to be easily influenced or manipulated by a person.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > obedience > manageability > be manageable [verb (intransitive)] > be malleable
to be putty (also to be like putty) in a person's hands1867
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > weakness of character or will > person of weak character or will
mush-head1846
to be putty in a person's hands1867
invertebrate1869
jellyfish1883
zob1911
akratic1913
Milquetoast1932
weakie1959
1852 J. M. Field Job & his Children in America's Lost Plays (1941) XIV. i. 244 You ain't all-killin' pooty, and you don't know much, but then, you've com—com—combustibility of character—putty in the hands of the artist, you know!]
1867 E. D. B. Stoddard Temple House xxv. 230 Sho, they are lumps of putty in her hands. Down she goes on her hams,and every soul of them gets crooked in the knee.
1894 Scribner's Mag. July 77/1 His physical strength seemed to have undergone a complete collapse, until he was like putty in the hands of this strange doctor, whom he obeyed like a child.
1946 W. S. Maugham Then & Now ii. 3 You are infatuated with the man. You're like putty in his hands.
1974 P. De Vries Glory of Hummingbird (1975) v. 79 It's only your hands I'm putty in.
1997 Shout 20 June 41/1 If a girl gives me flowers, then I'm putty in her hands.
c. Australian colloquial. up to putty: worthless; useless; ineffectual.
ΚΠ
1916 Anzac Bk. 32/1 A man's got a chance to hit back there, but down 'ere it's up to putty.
1953 D. Stivens Gambling Ghost 24 ‘I don't hear anything, Cabbage-tree,’ said Thunderclap. ‘Your hearing's up to putty,’ said Cabbage-tree.
1973 Bronze Swagman Bk. Bush Verse (1974) 14 Can't ya see her tail was broken..And her breeding's up to putty.
1997 Courier Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 4 Feb. 10 We missed our mother, the food was up to putty and the discipline was stern, to say the least.
4. Medicine. A wound dressing (plaster) resembling or having the consistency of glazier's putty. rare. Now historical.In quot. 1828: lead plaster, diachylon.
ΚΠ
1828 Lancet 28 June 388/1 Plaster, or putty, is a composition of oil and oxide of lead..it is sometimes called lead plaster.
1870 Lancet 19 Mar. 406/1 A layer of putty, rendered antiseptic by the admixture of a certain proportion of the [carbolic] acid, was used for the external dressing.
1914 Lancet 26 Sept. 821/2 It should be remembered that this was the age of the lac plaster and the carbolic putty.
5.
a. Any of various materials resembling putty (esp. glazier's putty) and usually having similar uses, but of different composition.The two uses attested in quot. 1882 are senses of French potée, but the first has not been traced in English.bouncing, nose, tar-putty, etc.: see the first element. See also Silly Putty n..
ΚΠ
1867 Eighty Years' Progress U.S. I. 335/2 The rod, with its covering of rope and plaster, is then taken out, leaving the putty mould entire.
1882 Imperial Dict. Putty, 4. the mixture of ground materials in which in potteries earthenware is dipped for glazing.—5. The mixture of clay and horse-dung used in making moulds in foundries.
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Putty,..any of various other substances resembling putty..in appearance, consistency, use, etc.; as:..A mixture of ferric oxide and boiled linseed oil (iron putty), or of red and white lead and boiled linseed oil (red-lead putty), used by mechanics in making pipe joints, etc.
1937 Life 13 Sept. 18/2 (advt.) This Goodrich putty, made of rubber, never loses its resilience. It expands and contracts with every change in the steel (or wood) and glass, and so keeps a permanently tight air-proof seal.
1978 R. P. Singhal Home Plumber's Bible vi. 161 Apply a layer of plumber's putty on the bottom of the faucet.
1998 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Conservation 37 58/2 Shellac and mastic (pine resin from Pistacia lentiscus) were mixed together to form a putty for repairing china.
b. A light shade of yellowish grey.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > yellowish grey
mouse-dunc1465
mouse-coloura1576
mouse grey1825
putty1869
beige1879
naturelle1887
mouse1895
greige1911
kasha1957
1869 J. S. Le Fanu Wyvern Myst. II. vi. 165 I never have any colour now, they tell me—always pale, pale, pale; but it isn't muddy; 'tain't what you call putty?
1886 Daily News 16 Mar. 6/3 Another pretty colour with an ugly name is that called ‘putty’. It is really a very sweet tone of grey with a touch of fawn in it.
1915 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring–Summer Suppl. 1/2 Natty tailored Suit... In light Putty (Tan) shade only.
1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 698/1 Hose..Botany Wool, in Black, Grey, Tan, Nigger, Putty, Beige, Nude.
1994 Where Winnipeg Mar. 11/1 These 3/4 length jackets in shades of putty, forest green and navy are made from polyester micro-fibre.
c. colloquial. Soft or sticky mud or sand at the bottom or edge of a body of water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > sediment or alluvium > [noun]
siltc1440
warpingc1440
slitch?a1475
sleech1587
alluvium1665
sediment1685
sullage1691
warp1698
wash1707
washing1707
alluvion1731
silting1739
warp land1794
alluvial1818
siltage1876
flood-loam1880
putty1883
1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads i. 5 All the other Broads have bottoms of black mud..so soft that a yacht's anchor will not hold in it, so that large blocks of iron ballast are used instead, which will not drag through the ‘putty’, as the mud is locally called.
1890 P. H. Emerson Wild Life 60 My punt..may stick in the putty.
1902 Working Men's Coll. Jrnl. 7 367 The tide was running down..and the quant had to be used a good deal, the yacht sticking ‘on the putty’ more than once.
1961 P. Moyes Sunken Sailor ii. 33 My adorable wife has put us on the putty. On a falling tide.
2005 Lloyd's List (Nexis) 28 Nov. 7 A 72,000 dwt laden coal carrier which had miscalculated its drift round a bend and gone up on the putty.
d. Golf. A type of golf ball made of a softer material than the traditional gutta-percha. Also more fully putty ball. Cf. gutty n. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > equipment > [noun] > ball > types of
floater1717
gutta1857
feathery1881
gutty1881
putty1881
feather ball1893
repaint1917
1881 R. Forgan Golfer's Handbk. 39 The ‘putty’ being the popular name for the ‘Eclipse’.
1889 W. C. Honeyman in Golfing Ann. II. 74 A ‘putty’ ball going in here will never be seen again.
1890 H. G. Hutchinson in H. G. Hutchinson et al. Golf (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) iii. 75 Finally, there is the ball called the ‘Eclipse’, but more commonly known among golfers as the ‘putty’, because it is of softer substance than the gutta-percha ball, and because ‘putty’ rhymes with ‘gutty’.
1900 A. E. T. Watson Young Sportsman 293 Several kinds of composition balls, known generically as ‘putties’ in contradistinction to the ‘gutties’ or gutta-percha balls..have failed to take the place of those made of the raw material.
e. Nautical slang. A ship's painter.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > for securing vessel > painter
boat rope1336
seizing1336
tether?1504
painter1699
cut-rope1909
putty1927
1927 ‘Giraldus’ Musings Merry Matloe 185 Putty, the ship's painter. A cognomen for any painter from generation to generation.
1961 F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 165 Putty,..a ship's painter.
Compounds
C1.
a.
putty bed n.
ΚΠ
1902 How to make Things 33/2 [In taxidermy] the insertion of the artificial eyes, in a putty bed, follows the operation of pinning the wings to the body.
2002 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 18 Aug. 19 The glass roof panels have been put in traditional glazing bars on a putty bed, and then fastened in with wooden strips, also bedded in putty, and then painted.
putty beige n.
ΚΠ
1921 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 17 Apr. 2/5 If you have been hankering for a gray gown, wait and find one of the newest putty-beiges which are ever so much better now than the silver gray.
1969 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring–Summer 10 Putty beige.
2004 WWD (Nexis) 1 Oct. 18 His best items were a series of pretty dresses, flounced or beaded, in shades of putty beige.
putty colour n.
ΚΠ
1783 Amer. Wanderer ii. 12 From the chalk and putty colour of the large vacant eye.]
1855 Times 10 Dec. 10/6 Her stools were not always the same; they sometimes were of a putty colour.
1933 Burlington Mag. Sept. 122/1 The olive-grey celadon glaze has the same peculiar tint, with a slight suggestion of putty colour.
2006 Times (Nexis) 14 Apr. 8 For something softer and altogether more feminine, Chloe has a delicious three-tiered skirt in a soft putty colour.
putty face n.
ΚΠ
1854 T. B. Thorpe Master's House xxii. 252 ‘Has Hovey got back from Colesburg, Putty-face?’ said he.
1927 M. Sinclair Hist. Anthony Waring xvii. 88 Charlie, in spite of his putty face, was handsome in a heavy way.
1992 Acta Victoriana Feb. 3/1 Her puttyface wobbles in pain as she slips the contact lenses in.
putty grey n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1898 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Sentinel 3 Jan. This is really a very beautiful fabric, and the color is one that I never saw before,..between a green and a putty gray.
1988 Boston Globe (Nexis) 18 Sept. 19 Among the expectedly muted blacks and putty greys, there are lots of brilliant colors.
2006 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 5 Apr. e1 Attired in a patrician uniform of putty gray suits.
putty joint n.
ΚΠ
1825 C. F. Partington Builder's Compl. Guide 376 Bricks of two qualities are fabricated for the purpose; a firm brick often rubbed and laid in what the workmen term a putty joint, for the exterior, and an inferior brick for the interior substance of the wall.
1882 Cent. Mag. June 314/1 There should be no putty-joints to dry and crumble or be gnawed by rats.
1989 Guardian (Nexis) 18 Nov. It often happens in an upstairs lavatory because the warmer atmosphere there has dried out the putty joint between the pan and the branch to the soil pipe.
putty mark n.
ΚΠ
1896 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 8 July 4/4 For removing paint and putty marks from window glass this same mixture of ammonia and whiting may be used for stubborn cases.
1952 Chillicothe (Missouri) Constit. Tribune 24 Dec. 1/2 There were putty marks on his clothing and hands, which later was found to check with the putty removed from the window.
2003 Times (Nexis) 24 Oct. (Times2 section) 9 The fitter left putty marks on the glass, which I cannot seem to wash off.
putty shade n.
ΚΠ
1879 Decatur (Illinois) Daily Rev. 14 May Undressed kid gloves..are shown in wood, gray, and putty shades, in creamy white, black, and dark brown.
1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 11/6 (advt.) The Barry ‘militaire’ (in fashionable putty-shade).
2001 North Bay (Ont.) Nugget 14 Dec. b9 The putty shade on the walls serves to show off the wood mouldings and the diamond-paned windows.
putty state n.
ΚΠ
1860 Sci. Amer. 25 Feb. 135/1 The glutenosity of the dough is not entirely lost, and by pressing it together you reduce it into a putty state.
1974 Jrnl. Econ. Lit. 12 1314/1 The putty turns to clay once the plant is built and factor proportions are fixed and embodied in the particular plant without the factor flexibility of the putty state.
putty white n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1897 Entomologist's Rec. & Jrnl. Variation 9 65 Triphaena pronuna..their fore-wings being of almost every possible shade, varying from putty-white to almost black.
1907 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 20 Aug. 7/4 There is a fancy vest of putty white cloth embroidered with silver and three shades of blue silk.
1971 Guardian 20 July 9/3 Caramel..and putty-white make the season's signature combination.
2005 Times-Picayune (New Orleans) (Nexis) 16 July 1 People are tired of taupe and putty white walls.
b.
putty-coloured adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [adjective] > yellowish grey
mouse-coloured1605
mouse-colour1607
mouse-dun1686
putty-coloured1820
beige1879
beige-coloured1879
greige1927
1820 T. E. Hook Exchange no Robbery ii. iii. 43 Her putty coloured boots.
1906 H. Begbie Priest ii. 8 At one end was a great spread of folding doors putty coloured.
2006 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 8 Feb. b4 She was glazing a butterfly she had shaped from clay. Carefully she applied the glaze that would turn her piece from putty-colored to bright blue.
putty-cool adj.
ΚΠ
1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 69 Our bedroom, putty-gray and putty-cool.
putty-faced adj.
ΚΠ
1846 Q. Rev. Mar. 318 A putty-faced puppet.
1891 R. Kipling Mutiny of Mavericks in Life's Handicap 192 Ye dissolute, half-baked, putty-faced scum.
1980 B. Parvin Death in Past v. 32 The short, putty-faced man.
putty-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1849 T. B. Curling in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. IV. 1009/1 The putty-looking chalky matter often observed in the lungs.
1999 Philadelphia Inquirer (Nexis) 5 Nov. e1 This salt-gray or putty-looking desk doesn't make it in the great room or the bedroom.
C2. † putty-eye n. Obsolete rare the eye of a pigeon that is surrounded by a thick, fleshy ring.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
putty blower n. U.S. (now rare) a blowpipe for shooting pellets of putty (sense 3).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > toy weapons > [noun]
poop1489
pellet1553
trunk1553
elder-gun1600
popgun1649
spitter1688
pluff1695
whistling arrowa1718
pea-shooter1782
pea gun1812
detonating ball1814
pea-blower1821
pen-gun1821
pipegun1828
torpedo1831
spring gun1837
putty blower1861
tweaker1862
pluffera1866
bean-shooter1890
putty shooter1896
water pistol1897
stink bomb1915
cap-pistol1920
cap-gun1931
laser gun1961
1861 Atlantic Monthly June 754/1 I wish..that I could get this Putty Blower pointed at the enemy, while you fellows are bridge-building.
1878 B. Harte Man on Beach 96 The boot-black drew a tin putty-blower from his pocket, and took unerring aim.
1968 Charleston (W. Virginia) Daily Mail 13 Mar. 12/6 Was the fire power of the North Vietnamese ships of such caliber that in comparison it was like a man with a putty blower attacking a man with a machine gun?
putty cement n. = sense 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > cement or mortar > [noun] > other kinds of cement or mortar
maltha?1440
testacyec1440
putty1472
tarras1612
natural cement1753
Roman cement1768
sand mortar1775
Roman cement1800
Parker's cement1811
mastic cement1815
gauge-stuff1823
Portland cement1824
putty cement1825
rust cement1830
matrix1838
terro-cement1838
rust1839
swish1863
Coaguline1868
albolith1870
dagga1878
mastic1881
tripolith1882
grappier1897
pozzolana cement1905
Ciment Fondu1924
snowcrete1928
soil-cement1936
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 538 Putty cement will stand longer than most stones.
1993 Collins Compl. DIY Man. (new ed.) iii. 207/2 Lift or tap out the broken pieces and scrape away the old putty cement.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. Putty-eye, a name given by pigeon-fanciers to the eyes of pigeons which have a thick orbit of a fleshy character.
putty head n. U.S. colloquial a stupid person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupid, foolish, or inadequate person > stupid person, dolt, blockhead > [noun]
asseOE
sotc1000
beastc1225
long-ear?a1300
stock1303
buzzard1377
mis-feelinga1382
dasarta1400
stonea1400
dasiberd14..
dottlec1400
doddypoll1401
dastardc1440
dotterel1440
dullardc1440
wantwit1449
jobardc1475
nollc1475
assheada1500
mulea1500
dull-pate15..
peak1509
dulbert?a1513
doddy-patec1525
noddypolla1529
hammer-head1532
dull-head?1534
capon1542
dolt1543
blockhead1549
cod's head1549
mome1550
grout-head1551
gander1553
skit-brains?1553
blocka1556
calfa1556
tomfool1565
dunce1567
druggard1569
cobble1570
dummel1570
Essex calf1573
jolthead1573
hardhead1576
beetle-head1577
dor-head1577
groutnoll1578
grosshead1580
thickskin1582
noddyship?1589
jobbernowl1592
beetle-brain1593
Dorbel1593
oatmeal-groat1594
loggerhead1595
block-pate1598
cittern-head1598
noddypoop1598
dorbellist1599
numps1599
dor1601
stump1602
ram-head1605
look-like-a-goose1606
ruff1606
clod1607
turf1607
asinego1609
clot-poll1609
doddiea1611
druggle1611
duncecomb1612
ox-head1613
clod-polla1616
dulman1615
jolterhead1620
bullhead1624
dunderwhelpa1625
dunderhead1630
macaroona1631
clod-patea1635
clota1637
dildo1638
clot-pate1640
stupid1640
clod-head1644
stub1644
simpletonian1652
bottle-head1654
Bœotiana1657
vappe1657
lackwit1668
cudden1673
plant-animal1673
dolt-head1679
cabbage head1682
put1688
a piece of wood1691
ouphe1694
dunderpate1697
numbskull1697
leather-head1699
nocky1699
Tom Cony1699
mopus1700
bluff-head1703
clod skull1707
dunny1709
dowf1722
stupe1722
gamphrel1729
gobbin?1746
duncehead1749
half-wit1755
thick-skull1755
jackass1756
woollen-head1756
numbhead1757
beef-head1775
granny1776
stupid-head1792
stunpolla1794
timber-head1794
wether heada1796
dummy1796
noghead1800
staumrel1802
muttonhead1803
num1807
dummkopf1809
tumphya1813
cod's head and shoulders1820
stoopid1823
thick-head1824
gype1825
stob1825
stookiea1828
woodenhead1831
ning-nong1832
log-head1834
fat-head1835
dunderheadism1836
turnip1837
mudhead1838
donkey1840
stupex1843
cabbage1844
morepork1845
lubber-head1847
slowpoke1847
stupiditarian1850
pudding-head1851
cod's head and shoulders1852
putty head1853
moke1855
mullet-head1855
pothead1855
mug1857
thick1857
boodle1862
meathead1863
missing link1863
half-baked1866
lunk1867
turnip-head1869
rummy1872
pumpkin-head1876
tattie1879
chump1883
dully1883
cretin1884
lunkhead1884
mopstick1886
dumbhead1887
peanut head1891
pie-face1891
doughbakea1895
butt-head1896
pinhead1896
cheesehead1900
nyamps1900
box head1902
bonehead1903
chickenhead1903
thickwit1904
cluck1906
boob1907
John1908
mooch1910
nitwit1910
dikkop1913
goop1914
goofus1916
rumdum1916
bone dome1917
moron1917
oik1917
jabroni1919
dumb-bell1920
knob1920
goon1921
dimwit1922
ivory dome1923
stone jug1923
dingleberry1924
gimp1924
bird brain1926
jughead1926
cloth-head1927
dumb1928
gazook1928
mouldwarp1928
ding-dong1929
stupido1929
mook1930
sparrow-brain1930
knobhead1931
dip1932
drip1932
epsilon1932
bohunkus1933
Nimrod1933
dumbass1934
zombie1936
pea-brain1938
knot-head1940
schlump1941
jarhead1942
Joe Soap1943
knuckle-head1944
nong1944
lame-brain1945
gobshite1946
rock-head1947
potato head1948
jerko1949
turkey1951
momo1953
poop-head1955
a right one1958
bam1959
nong-nong1959
dickhead1960
dumbo1960
Herbert1960
lamer1961
bampot1962
dipshit1963
bamstick1965
doofus1965
dick1966
pillock1967
zipperhead1967
dipstick1968
thickie1968
poephol1969
yo-yo1970
doof1971
cockhead1972
nully1973
thicko1976
wazzock1976
motorhead1979
mouth-breather1979
no-brainer1979
jerkwad1980
woodentop1981
dickwad1983
dough ball1983
dickweed1984
bawheid1985
numpty1985
jerkweed1988
dick-sucker1989
knob-end1989
Muppet1989
dingus1997
dicksack1999
eight ball-
1853 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 29 Oct. The pickings must be equally divided amongst both classes of the harmonious democracie ‘putty heads’ and ‘adamantines’.
1856 M. J. Holmes 'Lena Rivers 370 He got so engaged about the darned ‘liquor law’, and the putty-heads that made it, that he'd no idee 'twas so late.
1864 J. T. Trowbridge Cudjo's Cave 399 We must fight it through, or go back, like that putty-head Deslow.
1921 L. F. Baum Royal Bk. of Oz 123 Oh, putty head that I am to set myself against the Grand Chew Chew!
1989 Los Angeles Times (Electronic text) 16 Jan. 2 ‘Ted-Ted, the Putty Head’, the fictional program director of a rival radio station in a recent..commercial.
putty-headed adj. U.S. colloquial stupid; easily manipulated.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > weakness of intellect > simplicity, simple-mindedness > [adjective]
weak1423
simple-hearted?c1425
good1480
innocent1548
plain-headeda1586
simple1604
green1605
zany1616
soft1621
ungifted1637
softly1652
half-witted1712
simple-minded1749
simpletonic1780
simpletonian1800
sawney1805
simpletonish1819
simply disposed1848
putty-headed1857
cabbage-looking1898
goonish1921
wally1922
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective] > weak in character or will
nesheOE
feeblec1200
softc1275
weaka1425
infirm1526
lithya1533
unheaded1577
spiritless1595
pappy1597
irresolute1600
marrowless1607
seducible1613
wax-nosedc1615
unsinewy?1623
reedy1628
swayable1642
short-spirited1647
weak-headed1654
lath-backed1676
will-less?1680
tiffany-trader1702
weak-minded1716
lax1751
lax-fibred1762
nerveless1783
wishy-washy1801
marcid1822
molluscous1836
boneless1848
weedy1849
putty-headed1857
flabby1862
weak-kneed1863
fibreless1864
invertebrate1867
chinless1881
backboneless1882
featherweight1885
spineless1885
weak-willed1885
totter-kneed1887
akratic1896
effete1905
weakling1906
gutless1915
willowish1919
Milquetoast1932
nannified1960
ball-less1967
1857 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Weekly 30 July 2/4 The Toledo Blade whose editor appears to be a putty-headed Yankee—whom a pigmy could put to flight with a bull-rush.
1900 News (Frederick, Maryland) 20 Dec. What are you letting him stand out-side for, you putty-headed idiot?
1993 S. Bellow Second Half Life in It All adds Up (rev. ed.) 327 For this latest and longest betrayal by putty-headed [1991 puffy-headed] academics and intellectuals.
putty-hearted adj. soft-hearted; lacking in courage, cowardly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > [adjective]
arghc885
heartlessOE
bloodlessc1225
coward1297
faintc1300
nesha1382
comfortless1387
pusillanimousa1425
faint-heartedc1440
unheartyc1440
cowardous1480
hen-hearteda1529
cowardish1530
feigningc1540
white-livered1546
cowardly1551
faceless1567
pusillanime1570
liver-hearted1571
cowish1579
cowardise1582
coward-like1587
faint-heart1590
courageless1593
sheep-like1596
white-hearted1598
milky1602
milk-livered1608
undaring1611
lily-livereda1616
yarrow1616
flightful1626
chicken-hearted1629
poltroon1649
cow-hearted1660
whey-blooded1675
unbravea1681
nimble-heeled1719
dunghill1775
shrimp-hearted1796
chicken-livered1804
white-feathered1816
pluckless1821
chicken-spirited1822
milk-blooded1822
cowardy1836
yellow1856
yellow-livered1857
putty-hearted1872
uncourageous1878
chicken1883
piker1901
yellow-bellied1907
manso1932
scaredy-cat1933
chickenshit1940
cold-footed1944
1872 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Sentinel 7 May Putty-hearted young men have always surfeited the market.
1885 R. L. Stevenson Prince Otto ii. i A springless, putty-hearted, cowering coward.
1999 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 26 Oct. 30 Hopper played the cynical biker opposite Peter Fonda's putty-hearted idealist.
putty knife n. a knife with a flexible spatulate blade for spreading putty (sense 3).
ΚΠ
1841 Times 16 Sept. 7/2 He had a putty knife which he used in his trade of a glazier in his hand, and he..cut his own child right across the knuckles and wrist.
1901 J. Black Illustr. Carpenter & Builder Ser.: Useful Recipes 51 Take a sharp-edged putty-knife..and cut the paint off as low as you can without scratching the glass.
1994–5 Do it Yourself Winter 78/3 For thin cracks and small, shallow nicks, patch the area with drywall joint compound and a putty knife.
putty medal n. humorous a worthless reward for insignificant service or achievement.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > worthless > types of
eggshell1550
new nothing1577
earth?1592
shuck1851
putty medal1893
garbage can1922
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > token of victory or supreme excellence > [noun] > award for merit > decoration > medal > worthless
leather medal1831
putty medal1893
1893 Times 26 July 11/6 (advt.) Our system..is as far removed from the little five and ten pound systems of dealing as is a genuine sovereign from a putty medal.
1958 M. Kelly Christmas Egg (1965) iii. 195 ‘You know what you'll be given for all this?’..‘A putty medal. Sooner have a cheque.’
1992 Olympics 92 (BBC Sports) 144/2 Another to score what sailors refer to as ‘the putty medal’ (fourth place) last time was Lawrie Smith.
putty powder n. see sense 2.
putty-root n. U.S. a North American orchid, Aplectrum hyemale, the tubers of which were formerly used to produce a vegetable glue; also called Adam-and-Eve.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids
satyrionOE
bollockwort?a1300
sanicle14..
bollock?a1425
martagon1548
orchis1559
dogstones1562
hare's-ballocks1562
stone1562
bollock grass1578
dog's cods1578
dog's cullions1578
double-leaf1578
fly-orchis1578
goat's cullions1578
goat's orchis1578
priest's pintle1578
twayblade1578
bee-orchis1597
bifoil1597
bird's nest1597
bird's orchis1597
butterfly orchis1597
fenny-stones1597
gelded satyrion1597
gnat satyrion1597
humble-bee orchis1597
lady's slipper1597
sweet ballocks1597
two-blade1605
cullions1611
bee-flower1626
fly-flower1640
man orchis1670
musk orchis1670
moccasin flower1680
gnat-flower1688
faham tea1728
Ophrys1754
green man orchis1762
Arethusa1764
honey flower1771
cypripedium1775
rattlesnake plantain1778
Venus's slipper1785
Adam and Eve1789
lizard orchis179.
epidendrum1791
Pogonia?1801
Vanda1801
cymbidium1815
Oncidium1822
putty-root1822
Noah's Ark1826
yellow moccasin1826
gongora1827
cattleya1828
green man1828
nervine1828
stanhopea1829
dove-flower1831
catasetum1836
Odontoglossum1836
Miltonia1837
letter plant1838
spread eagle1838
letter-leaf1839
swan-plant1841
orchid1843
disa1844
masdevallia1845
Phalaenopsis1846
faham1850
Indian crocus1850
moccasin plant1850
pleione1851
dove orchis1852
nerve root1854
Holy Ghost flower1862
basket-plant1865
lizard's tongue1866
mousetail1866
Sobralia1866
swan-neck1866
swanwort1866
Indian shoe1876
odontoglot1879
wreathewort1879
moth orchid1880
rattlesnake orchid1881
dendrobe1882
dove-plant1882
Madeira orchis1882
man orchis1882
swan-flower1884
slipper-orchid1885
slipper orchis1889
mayflower1894
scorpion orchid1897
moederkappie1910
dove orchid1918
monkey orchid1925
man orchid1927
1822 A. Eaton Man. Bot. (ed. 3) ii. 250 Corallorhiza..hyemalis..adam and eve, putty root... A cement resembling putty may be made of the root.
1898 L. H. Bailey Lessons with Plants 223 Among the better known plants which are members of the Orchidaceæ are the..rattlesnake plantain, putty-root, and vanilla.
1990 From Land Summer 2/3 Rare plants including the seabeach sandwort, Small's yellow-eyed grass, and the elusive putty-root, an orchid found in rich woodland areas, will hopefully be located.
putty shooter n. U.S. (now rare) = putty blower n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > toy weapons > [noun]
poop1489
pellet1553
trunk1553
elder-gun1600
popgun1649
spitter1688
pluff1695
whistling arrowa1718
pea-shooter1782
pea gun1812
detonating ball1814
pea-blower1821
pen-gun1821
pipegun1828
torpedo1831
spring gun1837
putty blower1861
tweaker1862
pluffera1866
bean-shooter1890
putty shooter1896
water pistol1897
stink bomb1915
cap-pistol1920
cap-gun1931
laser gun1961
1896 D. C. Beard Amer. Boy's Bk. Sport xxxiii. 395 When people depend for their dinner or personal safety upon a ‘putty-shooter’ you may be sure that they learn to shoot with great accuracy.
1904 Sunday Herald (Syracuse, N.Y.) 6 Mar. 37/2 (caption) He's takin my putty shooter.
putty-stop v. transitive to fill (holes or indentations) with putty; to apply putty to (a surface) so as to produce a smooth finish; only in passive.
ΚΠ
1848 H. Barnard School Archit. (ed. 2) III. ix. 197 The rest of the Inside Pine Finish is to be Putty-stopped, Primed, and Painted and Grained.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §561 They could not be putty-stopped well enough.
1941 National Paint Bull. Mar. 5/1 After priming nail holes shall be putty stopped.
2000 Professional Builder (Nexis) 1 Dec. 119 Exterior muntin bars have a traditional putty-stopped profile and feature hollow extruded aluminum for enhanced durability.]
putty work n. work done using putty; spec. a type of decorative work done in a soft substance that hardens after being moulded (now rare).
ΚΠ
1876 R. Redgrave Man. Design ii. ix. 90 Bunches of fruit, flowers, game, and utensils of various kinds in swags and festoons..rarely carved from the members of the work itself, but merely applied as so much putty-work or papier-mâché might be.
1901 in Orillia (Ont.) Packet & Times (2001) (Nexis) 12 Oct. a2 The very fine putty-work on display by Mrs. J. F. Morris. Green was heard to be said that Mrs. Morris' decorative mirror frame was the best piece of work of the kind he had ever seen.
2006 Chicago Daily Herald (Nexis) 27 Mar. (Auto section) 1 Her [sc. the old car's] rocker panels showed heavy putty work.
Derivatives
ˈputty-like adj.
ΚΠ
1819 Times 13 Sept. 3/6 I should..defend the neighbouring parts bitten with whiting or scraped chalk first made into a putty-like consistence with sweet oil.
1865 Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 5/4 Leaving a huge putty-like cake of clay at the bottom.
1922 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Telegram 29 Mar. 8/1 That irrational putty-like creature with her petulant eyes and sensuous mouth.
2006 New Yorker (Nexis) 18 Dec. 70 Her heart had become clogged with a strange putty-like material.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
puttyv.
/ˈpʌti/, U.S. /ˈpədi/ transitive. To cover or smear with putty; to fix, mend, or join with putty; to fill up (a hole, joint, etc.) with putty. Also with in, up, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > mending or repairing > [verb (transitive)] > mend with putty
putty1719
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > clad or cover [verb (transitive)] > clad or cover with other materials
pitcheOE
lute1495
loam1600
bitume1609
wainscota1631
mud1632
putty1719
compo1809
belute1837
smear1839
puddle1844
plash1864
canvas1865
cement1886
TP1962
toilet-paper1964
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > clad or cover [verb (transitive)] > fill in gaps
stop1388
beamfill1469
stuff1601
caulk1616
run1657
strike1668
fog1678
chinse1770
sneck1792
darn1801
pug1820
chink1822
grout1838
fillet1843
gallet1851
slush1875
putty1879
spackle1950
1719 R. Rawlinson Hist. & Antiq. Cathedral Salisbury 19 The crushed Wall must be well Pointed and Puttyed.
1789 J. Abercrombie Compl. Kitchen Gardener 466 The glass work of the lights may..be..squares laid between thin bars of wood, lengthways, and well puttied.
1844 Times 6 Nov. 8/1 A piece of timber was fitted in, and puttied and painted over like the rest.
1879 Eng. Carriage Build. in Cassell's Techn. Educator IV. 221/2 Any joints..are carefully puttied up with oil putty.
1937 Amer. Home Apr. 115/2 Whenever you use metal, choose copper or brass to avoid rusting, and carefully sink, putty, and even shellac all nails.
1975 M. Bradbury Hist. Man iii. 43 The windows kept getting smashed, but Howard learned how to putty in new ones.
2004 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 11 Apr. 22 Blair is furiously encouraging the sort of people who should be clearing our drains and puttying our windows to go to university.
Derivatives
ˈputtied adj.
ΚΠ
1863 L. B. Urbino Art Recreations 299 Rice shells are the prettiest, but they are costly. Some prefer sticking the shells into a puttied surface, which does very well.
1918 Times 12 Apr. 2/3 Some of the puttied containers which she was instructed to pack bore the Government acceptance mark.
1989 Plumbing (Time-Life Bks.) (new ed.) i. 47/1 (heading) Put the puttied strainer body into the opening.
ˈputtier n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > workers with specific materials > worker with glass > [noun] > involved with specific types or processes
quarrel-picker1676
glass-cutter1703
puttier1860
notcher1962
1860 W. M. Thackeray Lovel the Widower ii, in Cornhill Mag. Feb. 244 Cracked old houses where the painters and plumbers and puttyers are always at work.
1952 Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram 8 May b10/7 (advt.) Women sanders, puttiers, and helpers.
1990 Boston Globe (Nexis) 1 July 13 I am reglazing my windows but I am a terrible puttier.
ˈputtying n.
ΚΠ
1774 T. Jefferson Let. 9 Dec. in Papers (1950) I. 155 They inform me my window frames and glass are ready,..it being necessary to detain them about a month to harden the puttying.
1841 Times 15 Apr. 4/3 Plumbing, puttying, painting, plastering, and patching in ancient churches, by clownish and tasteless hands, are eschewed by him like the plague.
1914 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 20 153 All the panes were loose for lack of puttying at the edges, and one fell out when the window was measured.
1993 M. Gee Going West (1994) 196 I might be a monster of some sort now if it hadn't been for stripping and sanding and puttying and painting.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1472
v.1719