I. noun
or putt-putt ˈpət|pət, usu -|pəd.+V
( -s )
Etymology: imitative
1. : a sound made by or suggestive of the operation of a small gasoline engine
the put-put of its motor — Kay Boyle
occasionally there would be the rapid put-put of conversation — Donn Byrne
2. : a small gasoline engine or a vehicle or boat equipped with one
a phonograph and a radio and a flivver and a put-put for the canoe — Fannie Kilbourne
experimenting with fast-flying combat planes to replace the slow-flying put-puts now used for the job — Time
II. intransitive verb
or putt-putt “
( put-putted or putt-putted ; put-putted or putt-putted ; put-putting or putt-putting ; put-puts or putt-putts )
1. : to make put-puts : make the flat regularly repeated explosive sound of a small gasoline engine
his angry style, which keeps put-putting in a series of equal explosions like a one-cylinder gasoline engine — Malcolm Cowley
2. : to proceed or operate with or as if with put-puts : travel in a vehicle or boat that put-puts
the launch went put-putting across the darkening harbor — William Irish
put-put off across the water to visit the alligators — J.L.Jolley