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butt - 19 dictionary results

butt

1  [buht]
Use butt in a Sentence
–noun
1. the end or extremity of anything, esp. the thicker, larger, or blunt end considered as a bottom, base, support, or handle, as of a log, fishing rod, or pistol.
2. an end that is not used or consumed; remnant: a cigar butt.
3. a lean cut of pork shoulder.
4. Slang. the buttocks.
5. Slang. a cigarette.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME bott (thick) end, buttock, OE butt tree stump (in place names); akin to Sw but stump, Dan but stubby; cf. buttock

butt

2  [buht]
–noun
1. a person or thing that is an object of wit, ridicule, sarcasm, contempt, etc.
2. a target.
3. (on a rifle range)
a. a wall of earth located behind the targets to prevent bullets from scattering over a large area.
b. butts, a wall behind which targets can be safely lowered, scored, and raised during firing practice.
4. butt hinge.
5. Obsolete. a goal; limit.
–verb (used without object)
6. to have an end or projection on; be adjacent to; abut.
–verb (used with object)
7. to position or fasten an end (of something).
8. to place or join the ends (of two things) together; set end-to-end.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < MF but target, goal, prob. ≪ ON bútr butt 1 , from the use of a wooden block or stump as a target in archery, etc.

Synonyms:
1. victim, target, mark, dupe, gull, laughingstock, prey, pigeon, patsy.

butt

3  [buht]
–verb (used with object)
1. to strike or push with the head or horns.
–verb (used without object)
2. to strike or push something or at something with the head or horns.
3. to project.
4. Machinery. (of wheels in a gear train) to strike one another instead of meshing.
–noun
5. a push or blow with the head or horns.
—Verb phrases
6. butt in, to meddle in the affairs or intrude in the conversation of others; interfere: It was none of his concern, so he didn't butt in.
7. butt out, to stop meddling in the affairs or intruding in the conversation of others: Nobody asked her opinion, so she butted out.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME butten < AF buter, OF boter to thrust, strike < Gmc; cf. MD botten to strike, sprout

butt

4  [buht]
–noun
1. a large cask for wine, beer, or ale.
2. any cask or barrel.
3. any of various units of capacity, usually considered equal to two hogsheads.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME bote < AF bo(u)t(e); MF < OPr bota < LL butta, buttis, akin to Gk boût(t)is

butt

5  [buht]
any of several flatfishes, esp. the halibut.
Also, but.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME butte; c. Sw butta turbot, G Butt brill, turbot, flounder, D bot flounder
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To butt
butt 1   (bŭt)   
v.   butt·ed, butt·ing, butts

v.   tr.
To hit or push against with the head or horns; ram.
v.   intr.
  1. To hit or push something with the head or horns.
  2. To project forward or out.
n.  A push or blow with the head or horns.
Phrasal Verb(s):
butt inTo interfere or meddle in other people's affairs.
butt out Slang
  1. To leave someone alone.
  2. To leave; depart.

[Middle English butten, from Old French bouter, to strike, of Germanic origin; see bhau- in Indo-European roots.]
butt'er n.
butt 2   (bŭt)   
tr. & intr.v.   butt·ed, butt·ing, butts
To join or be joined end to end; abut.
n.  
  1. A butt joint.
  2. A butt hinge.

[Middle English butten, from Anglo-Norman butter (variant of Old French bouter; see butt1) and from but, end; see butt4.]
butt 3   (bŭt)   
n.  
  1. One that serves as an object of ridicule or contempt: I was the butt of their jokes.
    1. A target, as in archery or riflery.
    2. butts A target range.
    3. An obstacle behind a target for stopping the shot.
    4. Archaic A goal.
    5. Obsolete A bound; a limit.
  3. An embankment or hollow used as a blind by hunters of wildfowl.
    1. Archaic A goal.
    2. Obsolete A bound; a limit.

[Middle English butte, target, from Old French, from but, goal, end, target; see butt4.]
butt 4   (bŭt)   
n.  
  1. The larger or thicker end of an object: the butt of a rifle.
    1. An unburned end, as of a cigarette.
    2. Informal A cigarette.
  3. A short or broken remnant; a stub.
  4. Informal The buttocks; the rear end.

[Middle English butte, from Old French but, end, of Germanic origin.]
butt 5   (bŭt)   
n.  
  1. A large cask.
  2. A unit of volume equal to two hogsheads, usually the equivalent of 126 U.S. gallons (about 477 liters).

[Middle English, from Old French boute, from Late Latin *buttia, variant of buttis.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Butt

Butt\, But \But\, n. [F. but butt, aim (cf. butte knoll), or bout, OF. bot, end, extremity, fr. boter, buter, to push, butt, strike, F. bouter; of German origin; cf. OHG. b[=o]zan, akin to E. beat. See Beat, v. t.]

1. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.

Here is my journey's end, here my butt And very sea mark of my utmost sail. --Shak.

Note: As applied to land, the word is nearly synonymous with mete, and signifies properly the end line or boundary; the abuttal.

2. The thicker end of anything. See But.

3. A mark to be shot at; a target. --Sir W. Scott.

The groom his fellow groom at butts defies, And bends his bow, and levels with his eyes. --Dryden.

4. A person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed; as, the butt of the company.

I played a sentence or two at my butt, which I thought very smart. --Addison.

5. A push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head of an animal; as, the butt of a ram.

6. A thrust in fencing.

To prove who gave the fairer butt, John shows the chalk on Robert's coat. --Prior.

7. A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.

The hay was growing upon headlands and butts in cornfields. --Burrill.

8. (Mech.) (a) A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scarfing or chamfering; -- also called butt joint. (b) The end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and gib. (c) The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of a hose.

9. (Shipbuilding) The joint where two planks in a strake meet.

10. (Carp.) A kind of hinge used in hanging doors, etc.; -- so named because fastened on the edge of the door, which butts against the casing, instead of on its face, like the strap hinge; also called butt hinge.

11. (Leather Trade) The thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks.

12. The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice.

Butt chain (Saddlery), a short chain attached to the end of a tug.

Butt end. The thicker end of anything. See But end, under 2d But.

Amen; and make me die a good old man! That's the butt end of a mother's blessing. --Shak.

A butt's length, the ordinary distance from the place of shooting to the butt, or mark.

Butts and bounds (Conveyancing), abuttals and boundaries. In lands of the ordinary rectangular shape, butts are the lines at the ends (F. bouts), and bounds are those on the sides, or sidings, as they were formerly termed. --Burrill.

Bead and butt. See under Bead.

Butt and butt, joining end to end without overlapping, as planks.

Butt weld (Mech.), a butt joint, made by welding together the flat ends, or edges, of a piece of iron or steel, or of separate pieces, without having them overlap. See Weld.

Full butt, headfirst with full force. [Colloq.] "The corporal . . . ran full butt at the lieutenant." --Marryat.

Butt

Butt\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Butted; p. pr. & vb. n. Butting.] [OE. butten, OF. boter to push, F. bouter. See Butt an end, and cf. Boutade.]

1. To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut. [Written also but.]

And Barnsdale there doth butt on Don's well-watered ground. --Drayton.

2. To thrust the head forward; to strike by thrusting the head forward, as an ox or a ram. [See Butt, n.]

A snow-white steer before thine altar led, Butts with his threatening brows. --Dryden.

Butt

Butt\, v. t. To strike by thrusting the head against; to strike with the head.

Two harmless lambs are butting one the other. --Sir H. Wotton.

Butt

Butt\, n. [F. botte, boute, LL. butta. Cf. Bottle a hollow vessel.] A large cask or vessel for wine or beer. It contains two hogsheads.

Note: A wine butt contains 126 wine gallons (= 105 imperial gallons, nearly); a beer butt 108 ale gallons (= about 110 imperial gallons).

Butt

Butt\, n. (Zo["o]l.) The common English flounder.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : butt
Spanish: dar un cabezazo,
German: stoßen,
Japanese: 突く
More Translations »

butt  (n.1)
"thick end," O.E. buttuc "end, small piece of land," akin to O.N. butr "short." In sense of "human posterior" it is recorded from 1450. Meaning "remainder of a smoked cigarette" first recorded 1847.

butt  (n.2)
"barrel," 1385, from Anglo-Norm. but and O.Fr. bot/bout, from L.L. buttis "cask," probably from Gk. (see bottle). Usually a cask holding 108 to 140 gallons, or roughly two hogsheads, but the measure varied greatly.

butt  (n.3)
"target of a joke," 1616, originally "target for shooting practice" (1345), from O.Fr. but "aim, goal, end," perhaps from butte "mound, knoll," from Frank. *but (cf. O.N. butr "long of wood"), which would connect it with butt (n.1).

butt  (v.)
"hit with the head," c.1200, from Anglo-Norm. buter, from O.Fr. boter "to thrust against," from V.L. *bottare "thrust," or from Frankish (cf. O.N. bauta, Low Ger. boten "to strike, beat"), from P.Gmc. *butan, from PIE base *bhau- "to strike" (see batter (v.)). To butt in "rudely intrude" is Amer.Eng., 1900.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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