put under

phrasal verb·1 sense·particle under

Usefulness

Meanings

1

Give someone medicine so they are unconscious during a medical procedure

Why “under”? Medicine makes a person unconscious for a procedure, or the person becomes unconscious.

The doctor put me under before removing my wisdom teeth.
The doctor gave me medicine so I was unconscious during the procedure.
Will they put him under for the operation?
Will they give him medicine so he is unconscious during the operation?

Don't confuse with

put underput behind

Put under means make someone unconscious with medicine. Put behind means treat a difficult experience as no longer important.

Test yourself

The doctor put me under before removing my wisdom teeth. What does it mean?

Nearby in the meaning map

Sink In connects verbs by particle pattern, contrast pairs, and shared base verbs.

Sink In app icon

Sink In — iOS & Android

Practice “put under” in Sink In

Drill “put under” and 1,300+ other phrasal verbs with spaced repetition, organised by the particle patterns that connect them.

  • Learn the pattern behind dozens of verbs at once — not one-off translations.
  • Spaced repetition (SM-2) brings each meaning back right before you forget.
  • Four practice modes train recall and discrimination, not just recognition.
1,300+ phrasal verbs26 particle patternsBuilt for B1–C2
Sink In daily spaced-repetition practice session