Wiktionary
vb. 1 (context intransitive nautical English) To change direction. 2 (context transitive English) To circulate (a rumour).
Usage examples of "put about".
When the lines of the vessel are cast off, and she is put about, and her voyage begun, Ben-Hur will be committed irrevocably to the work undertaken the night before.
The sight-seers flattened themselves against the walls as the great lumbering coach put about and went off again the way it had come, the life-guards following after.
Or it could be a story put about to deceive our King into thinking they weren't about to attack us.
The car was put about, and flashed past us at high speed down into the valley.
Fagin seemed to interpret the endeavour as expressing a perfect coincidence with his opinion, and put about the liquor which Barney reappeared with, in a very friendly manner.
Seditious pamphlets and malicious rumours circulated by the French did not help matters, and sometimes caused needless panic, as when it was put about that Philip intended to bring thousands more of his compatriots to England, or was proposing to garrison the Tower with Spaniards.
Some of the Danes had already put about, clawing back toward Luebeck and away from the demons which had ravaged them.
Conservatively this redhaired space cadet had just put about $25,000 on the tableĀ.
They've put about half the flag officers on indefinite leave, because they were rejuved, just in case.
It was probably worth five thousand dollars to him to see three gentry of this pattern so much put about.
I never got a letter like this from you before, and I have been a little put about by it this morning.