AAAmerican Accent US

put away

Separable

The object can go before or after the particle — but a pronoun MUST go in the middle: “clean it up”, never “clean up it”.

How to say it

Stress the particle, not the verb: put AWAY. Saying “PUT away” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.

The /t/ flaps. Between vowels, American /t/ and /d/ both become a quick tap, so “put away” comes out as “pu-daway” — closer to a fast D than a T. Drop a pronoun in the middle and it flaps twice: “put it away” → “pu-di-daway”.

What it means

  1. To return something to its proper storage place.

    • “Put your toys away before dinner.”
    • “He put the tools away and locked the shed.”

    Similar: store, tidy away

The particle logic

away

Something moves off, vanishes, or keeps going steadily.

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More PUT phrasal verbs

Compare the whole family →

put off

To postpone something until later.

put up with

To tolerate something unpleasant without complaining.

put on

To dress yourself in something.

put out

To extinguish a fire, a flame or a cigarette.

put down

To place something on a surface.

put back

To return something to its original place.

put in

To install something.

put together

To assemble something from parts.

put up

To erect or display something.

put through

To connect someone by telephone.

put aside

To save something, especially money, for later.

put away — meaning, examples & how to say it