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butt in

 - 5 dictionary results

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.
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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To butt in
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.
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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Slang Dictionary
butt [bət]

  1. n.
    the buttocks. (Colloquial. Potentially offensive, although heard almost everywhere. See the complete list of all entries with butt in the Index of Hidden Key Words.) : She fell right on her butt.
  2. n.
    a cigarette butt. : Don't leave your butts in the houseplants!
  3. n.
    a cigarette of any kind. : You got a butt I can bum?
  4. n.
    someone or something that is disliked. (Rude and derogatory. See also boody.) : The guy's a real butt. A real squid.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

butt in

Interfere, interrupt, intrude. For example, Mom is always butting in on our conversations, or It's against the law for employers to butt in on personal matters. This term alludes to the thrusting of an animal with its horns. [Slang; 1890s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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