put up or shut up

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

put up or shut up

verb puts up or shuts up · putting up or shutting up · put up · shut up

idiomatic To desist from saying something unless one is able to prove it; to act in a manner that makes further talk unnecessary. "If the evidence for modern Darwinian theory is so overwhelming, they should have called the bluff on the other side and come and made their arguments. ... They should have put up or shut up."

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"put up or shut up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/put%20up%20or%20shut%20up. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

APA

put up or shut up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/put%20up%20or%20shut%20up

Chicago

"put up or shut up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/put%20up%20or%20shut%20up.

BibTeX

@misc{put_up_or_shut_up_2026,
  title = {put up or shut up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/put%20up%20or%20shut%20up},
  urldate = {2026-11-07}
}