Meaning & use
put feet up
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
To relax, especially by sitting down and resting your legs on a support.
Grammar: Usually used with a possessive adjective, e.g., 'put your feet up'.
Patterns
- put your feet up
- put my feet up
- put one's feet up
After a long day at work, I like to put my feet up and watch TV.
She put her feet up on the coffee table and read a book.
Come in, put your feet up, and I'll make us some tea.
phrasefixed phrase
To take a break from work or activity; to rest.
Grammar: Often used in the imperative or with 'can' to suggest taking a rest.
Patterns
- put your feet up for a while
- put your feet up and relax
You've been working all morning; why don't you put your feet up for a bit?
We put our feet up for half an hour before going back to work.
He put his feet up after finishing the report.
Common combinations
- put your feet up and relax
- Sit down, put your feet up and relax.
- put your feet up for a while
- I'm going to put my feet up for a while.
- put your feet up on something
- He put his feet up on the desk.
- time to put your feet up
- After retirement, it's time to put your feet up.
Synonyms and how they differ
- relax
- A general verb meaning to rest or become less tense; 'put your feet up' is more specific and informal, often implying physical rest with legs raised.
- take a break
- Means to stop working for a short time; 'put your feet up' suggests a more comfortable, leisurely rest.
- rest
- A broader term; 'put your feet up' is a casual idiom that often implies sitting or lying down with legs supported.
Opposites
Practice
Choose the correct sentence using the idiom 'put feet up'.
Choose one answer.
The idiom is 'put your feet up' with a possessive adjective and plural 'feet'. Option B changes the word order, option C omits the possessive, and option D uses singular 'foot', which is not the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “put feet up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.