What is "to put the hand to"

Put \Put\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Put; p. pr. & vb. n. Putting.] [AS. potian to thrust: cf. Dan. putte to put, to put into, Fries. putje; perh. akin to W. pwtio to butt, poke, thrust; cf. also Gael. put to push, thrust, and E. potter, v. i.]

1. To move in any direction; to impel; to thrust; to push; -- nearly obsolete, except with adverbs, as with by (to put by = to thrust aside; to divert); or with forth (to put forth = to thrust out).

   His chief designs are . . . to put thee by from thy spiritual employment.
   --Jer. Taylor.

2. To bring to a position or place; to place; to lay; to set; figuratively, to cause to be or exist in a specified relation, condition, or the like; to bring to a stated mental or moral condition; as, to put one in fear; to put a theory in practice; to put an enemy to fight.

   This present dignity, In which that I have put you.
   --Chaucer.

   I will put enmity between thee and the woman.
   --Gen. iii. 15.

   He put no trust in his servants.
   --Job iv. 18.

   When God into the hands of their deliverer Puts invincible might.
   --Milton.

   In the mean time other measures were put in operation.
   --Sparks.

3. To attach or attribute; to assign; as, to put a wrong construction on an act or expression.

4. To lay down; to give up; to surrender. [Obs.]

   No man hath more love than this, that a man put his life for his friends.
   --Wyclif (John xv. 13).

5. To set before one for judgment, acceptance, or rejection; to bring to the attention; to offer; to state; to express; figuratively, to assume; to suppose; -- formerly sometimes followed by that introducing a proposition; as, to put a question; to put a case.

   Let us now put that ye have leave.
   --Chaucer.

   Put the perception and you put the mind.
   --Berkeley.

   These verses, originally Greek, were put in Latin.
   --Milton.

   All this is ingeniously and ably put.
   --Hare.

6. To incite; to entice; to urge; to constrain; to oblige.

   These wretches put us upon all mischief.
   --Swift.

   Put me not use the carnal weapon in my own defense.
   --Sir W. Scott.

   Thank him who puts me, loath, to this revenge.
   --Milton.

7. To throw or cast with a pushing motion ``overhand,'' the hand being raised from the shoulder; a practice in athletics; as, to put the shot or weight.

8. (Mining) To convey coal in the mine, as from the working to the tramway. --Raymond. Put case, formerly, an elliptical expression for, put or suppose the case to be. Put case that the soul after departure from the body may live. --Bp. Hall. To put about (Naut.), to turn, or change the course of, as a ship. To put away.

   1. To renounce; to discard; to expel.

   2. To divorce. To put back.

      1. To push or thrust backwards; hence, to hinder; to delay.

      2. To refuse; to deny.

         Coming from thee, I could not put him back.
         --Shak.

   3. To set, as the hands of a clock, to an earlier hour.

   4. To restore to the original place; to replace. To put by.

      1. To turn, set, or thrust, aside. ``Smiling put the question by.''
         --Tennyson.

      2. To lay aside; to keep; to sore up; as, to put by money. To put down.

         1. To lay down; to deposit; to set down.

         2. To lower; to diminish; as, to put down prices.

      3. To deprive of position or power; to put a stop to; to suppress; to abolish; to confute; as, to put down rebellion or traitors.

         Mark, how a plain tale shall put you down.
         --Shak.

         Sugar hath put down the use of honey.
         --Bacon.

      4. To subscribe; as, to put down one's name. To put forth.

         1. To thrust out; to extend, as the hand; to cause to come or push out; as, a tree puts forth leaves.

         2. To make manifest; to develop; also, to bring into action; to exert; as, to put forth strength.

         3. To propose, as a question, a riddle, and the like.

         4. To publish, as a book. To put forward.

            1. To advance to a position of prominence or responsibility; to promote.

            2. To cause to make progress; to aid.

            3. To set, as the hands of a clock, to a later hour. To put in.

               1. To introduce among others; to insert; sometimes, to introduce with difficulty; as, to put in a word while others are discoursing.

               2. (Naut.) To conduct into a harbor, as a ship.

               3. (Law) To place in due form before a court; to place among the records of a court.
                  --Burrill.

            4. (Med.) To restore, as a dislocated part, to its place. To put off.

               1. To lay aside; to discard; as, to put off a robe; to put off mortality. ``Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.''
                  --Ex. iii. 5.

               2. To turn aside; to elude; to disappoint; to frustrate; to baffle.

                  I hoped for a demonstration, but Themistius hoped to put me off with an harangue.
                  --Boyle.

                  We might put him off with this answer.
                  --Bentley.

               3. To delay; to defer; to postpone; as, to put off repentance.

               4. To get rid of; to dispose of; especially, to pass fraudulently; as, to put off a counterfeit note, or an ingenious theory.

   5. To push from land; as, to put off a boat. To put on or To put upon.

      1. To invest one's self with, as clothes; to assume. ``Mercury . . . put on the shape of a man.''
         --L'Estrange.

      2. To impute (something) to; to charge upon; as, to put blame on or upon another.

      3. To advance; to promote. [Obs.] ``This came handsomely to put on the peace.''
         --Bacon.

      4. To impose; to inflict. ``That which thou puttest on me, will I bear.''
         --2 Kings xviii. 14.

      5. To apply; as, to put on workmen; to put on steam.

   6. To deceive; to trick. ``The stork found he was put upon.''
      --L'Estrange.

   7. To place upon, as a means or condition; as, he put him upon bread and water. ``This caution will put them upon considering.''
      --Locke.

   8. (Law) To rest upon; to submit to; as, a defendant puts himself on or upon the country. --Burrill. To put out.

      1. To eject; as, to put out and intruder.

      2. To put forth; to shoot, as a bud, or sprout.

      3. To extinguish; as, to put out a candle, light, or fire.

      4. To place at interest; to loan; as, to put out funds.

      5. To provoke, as by insult; to displease; to vex; as, he was put out by my reply. [Colloq.]

      6. To protrude; to stretch forth; as, to put out the hand.

      7. To publish; to make public; as, to put out a pamphlet.

      8. To confuse; to disconcert; to interrupt; as, to put one out in reading or speaking.

   9. (Law) To open; as, to put out lights, that is, to open or cut windows.
      --Burrill.

   10. (Med.) To place out of joint; to dislocate; as, to put out the ankle.

   11. To cause to cease playing, or to prevent from playing longer in a certain inning, as in base ball.

   12. to engage in sexual intercourse; -- used of women; as, she's got a great bod, but she doesn't put out. To put over.

       1. To place (some one) in authority over; as, to put a general over a division of an army.

       2. To refer.

          For the certain knowledge of that truth I put you o'er to heaven and to my mother.
          --Shak.

       3. To defer; to postpone; as, the court put over the cause to the next term.

       4. To transfer (a person or thing) across; as, to put one over the river. To put the hand to or To put the hand unto.

          1. To take hold of, as of an instrument of labor; as, to put the hand to the plow; hence, to engage in (any task or affair); as, to put one's hand to the work.

          2. To take or seize, as in theft. ``He hath not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods.'' --Ex. xxii. 11. To put through, to cause to go through all conditions or stages of a progress; hence, to push to completion; to accomplish; as, he put through a measure of legislation; he put through a railroad enterprise. [U.S.] To put to.

             1. To add; to unite; as, to put one sum to another.

             2. To refer to; to expose; as, to put the safety of the state to hazard. ``That dares not put it to the touch.''
                --Montrose.

          3. To attach (something) to; to harness beasts to. --Dickens. To put to a stand, to stop; to arrest by obstacles or difficulties. To put to bed.

             1. To undress and place in bed, as a child.

             2. To deliver in, or to make ready for, childbirth. To put to death, to kill. To put together, to attach; to aggregate; to unite in one. To put this and that (or two and two) together, to draw an inference; to form a correct conclusion. To put to it, to distress; to press hard; to perplex; to give difficulty to. ``O gentle lady, do not put me to 't.'' --Shak. To put to rights, to arrange in proper order; to settle or compose rightly. To put to the sword, to kill with the sword; to slay. To put to trial, or on trial, to bring to a test; to try. To put trust in, to confide in; to repose confidence in. To put up.

                1. To pass unavenged; to overlook; not to punish or resent; to put up with; as, to put up indignities. [Obs.] ``Such national injuries are not to be put up.''
                   --Addison.

                2. To send forth or upward; as, to put up goods for sale.

          4. To start from a cover, as game. ``She has been frightened; she has been put up.''
             --C. Kingsley.

       5. To hoard. ``Himself never put up any of the rent.''
          --Spelman.

       6. To lay side or preserve; to pack away; to store; to pickle; as, to put up pork, beef, or fish.

       7. To place out of sight, or away; to put in its proper place; as, put up that letter.
          --Shak.

       8. To incite; to instigate; -- followed by to; as, he put the lad up to mischief.

       9. To raise; to erect; to build; as, to put up a tent, or a house.

       10. To lodge; to entertain; as, to put up travelers.

           To put up a job, to arrange a plot. [Slang]

           Syn: To place; set; lay; cause; produce; propose; state.

           Usage: Put, Lay, Place, Set. These words agree in the idea of fixing the position of some object, and are often used interchangeably. To put is the least definite, denoting merely to move to a place. To place has more particular reference to the precise location, as to put with care in a certain or proper place. To set or to lay may be used when there is special reference to the position of the object.