butt Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun thick end of the handle
    butt end.
  2. noun the part of a plant from which the roots spring or the part of a stalk or trunk nearest the roots
  3. noun a victim of ridicule or pranks
    stooge; laughingstock; goat.
  4. noun the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
    bum; seat; stern; keister; tail end; prat; bottom; rear end; buns; tail; tush; rump; fanny; ass; behind; tooshie; hind end; posterior; hindquarters; nates; rear; arse; buttocks; backside; derriere; can; fundament.
    • he deserves a good kick in the butt
    • are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?
  5. noun sports equipment consisting of an object set up for a marksman or archer to aim at
    target.
  6. noun finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking
    cigarette; fag; coffin nail; cigaret.
  7. noun a joint made by fastening ends together without overlapping
    butt joint.
  8. noun a large cask (especially one holding a volume equivalent to 2 hogsheads or 126 gallons)
  9. noun the small unused part of something (especially the end of a cigarette that is left after smoking)
    stub.
  10. verb lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
    march; abut; edge; adjoin; butt against; border; butt on.
    • Canada adjoins the U.S.
    • England marches with Scotland
  11. verb to strike, thrust or shove against
    bunt.
    • He butted his sister out of the way
    • The goat butted the hiker with his horns
  12. verb place end to end without overlapping
    • The frames must be butted at the joints

WordNet

Butt, But noun (Also<
  • Butt
  • But
)
Etymology
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. bozan, akin to E. beat. See Beat, v. t.
Definitions
  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.
    ✍ 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 scrafing 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.
    Amen; and make me die a good old man! That's the butt end of a mother's blessing. Shak.
Butt intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. butten, OF. boter to push, F. bouter. See Butt an end, and cf. Boutade.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Butted; present participle & verbal noun Butting
Definitions
  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 transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To strike by thrusting the head against; to strike with the head.
    Two harmless lambs are butting one the other. Sir H. Wotton.
Butt noun
Etymology
F. botte, boute, LL. butta. Cf. Bottle a hollow vessel.
Definitions
  1. A large cask or vessel for wine or beer. It contains two hogsheads. ✍ A wine butt contains 126 wine gallons (= 105 imperial gallons, nearly); a beer butt 108 ale gallons (= about 110 imperial gallons).
Butt noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The common English flounder.

Webster 1913