put to sleep
The phrase "put to sleep" is commonly used in both everyday and medical contexts, with meanings ranging from causing sleep to euthanizing animals.
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🇬🇧 UK Voice:
Definition
B1General
(informal)To cause someone to fall asleep, often through soothing actions or substances.
Example
- The lullaby finally put the baby to sleep.
- Reading a book can sometimes put me to sleep.
B2Animal Care
(euphemism)To euthanize an animal to relieve its suffering, usually performed by a veterinarian.
Example
- The vet suggested it was time to put the dog to sleep to end its pain.
- They had to put their cat to sleep after it became severely ill.
B2Medical
(informal)To administer general anesthesia before a surgical procedure.
Example
- The doctor will put you to sleep before the operation.
- They put him to sleep before starting the surgery.
C1Figurative
(figurative)To make something inactive or dormant.
Example
- The project was put to sleep due to lack of funding.
- They decided to put the idea to sleep until the market conditions improved.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "put to sleep":
put to bedfall asleepput downeternal sleepsleep onput out to pasturelay to restgo to sleepput someone out of their miserydead sleepsleep withput to the sworddeep sleepsleep in