put up or shut up
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The Labour party should put up or shut up.
THE featherweight domestic dream fight is on after a ‘ put - up or shut - up’ challenge from Barney Eastwood to Frank Warren.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “Irreversible binomial” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29).
Common questions
What does “put up or shut up” mean?
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
Is “put up or shut up” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.