buttress

American  

[buh-tris] / ˈbʌ trɪs /

noun

1. any external prop or support built to steady a structure by opposing its outward thrusts, especially a projecting support built into or against the outside of a masonry wall.

2. any prop or support.

3. a thing shaped like a buttress, as a tree trunk with a widening base.

4. a bony or horny protuberance, especially on a horse's hoof.

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verb (used with object)

1. to support by a buttress; prop up.

2. to give encouragement or support to (a person, plan, etc.).

   Synonyms:

   reinforce, brace, inspirit, support, hearten, encourage

buttress British  

/ ˈbʌtrɪs /

noun

1. Also called: pier.  a construction, usually of brick or stone, built to support a wall See also flying buttress

2. any support or prop

3. something shaped like a buttress, such as a projection from a mountainside

4. either of the two pointed rear parts of a horse's hoof

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verb

1. to support (a wall) with a buttress

2. to support or sustain

Other Word Forms

• buttressless adjective
• buttresslike adjective
• nonbuttressed adjective
• unbuttressed adjective

Etymology

Origin of buttress

1350–1400; Middle English butres ≪ Old French ( arc ) boterez thrusting (arch) nominative singular of boteret (accusative), equivalent to boter- abutment (perhaps < Germanic; butt ³ ) + -et -et

Example Sentences

They are integral parts of a dynamic structural system—their weight of stone pushing the walls outward while the flying buttresses outside push them inward—the two forces exactly matching, like a perfectly balanced seesaw.

From The Wall Street Journal

There’s nothing like a Fed put to buttress markets, even if doubts exist this whole artificial-intelligence thing is going to work out swimmingly.

From MarketWatch

Monday's collapses affected a buttress and part of the tower's base, then part of the stairwell and the roof, Rome's Directorate of Cultural Heritage said in a statement.

From Barron's

Four massive concrete slabs jut into the room at second-story level, a move that is meant to celebrate structure—the museum’s director calls them “internal flying buttresses.”

From The Wall Street Journal

In a bland footnote, Waller cited the ADP data to buttress his concern that the labor market was slowing.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• reinforce
• strengthen
• uphold