butter
Americannoun
-
butter
plural
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the fatty portion of milk, separating as a soft whitish or yellowish solid when milk or cream is agitated or churned.
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this substance, processed for cooking and table use.
-
any of various other soft spreads for bread.
apple butter; peanut butter.
-
any of various substances of butterlike consistency, as various metallic chlorides, and certain vegetable oils solid at ordinary temperatures.
verb (used with object)
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butters,
present (3rd person singular)
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buttered,
past participle, past
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buttering
present participle
-
to put butter on or in; spread or grease with butter.
-
to apply a liquefied bonding material to (a piece or area), as mortar to a course of bricks.
-
Metalworking. to cover (edges to be welded together) with a preliminary surface of the weld metal.
verb phrase
noun
-
-
an edible fatty whitish-yellow solid made from cream by churning, for cooking and table use
-
( as modifier )
butter icing
-
-
any substance with a butter-like consistency, such as peanut butter or vegetable butter
-
to look innocent, although probably not so
verb
-
to put butter on or in
-
to flatter
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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buttersimple
-
butterssimple
-
have butteredperfect
-
has butteredperfect
-
am butteringprogressive
-
are butteringprogressive
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is butteringprogressive
-
have been butteringperfect progressive
-
has been butteringperfect progressive
Past
-
butteredsimple
-
had butteredperfect
-
was butteringprogressive
-
were butteringprogressive
-
had been butteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of butter
before 1000; Middle English; Old English butere < Latin būtȳrum < Greek boútȳron
Explanation
Butter is a creamy spread made from milk fat. Your favorite breakfast might be hot toast slathered with butter. The process of making butter involves churning cream until the fats coagulate and become creamy and pale yellow. Butter is sometimes salted, and usually formed into sticks for cooks to use in frying, baking, and spreading on corn on the cob and baked goods. To do this is to butter your bread. The Greek root word is boutyron, literally "cow cheese," from bous, "cow."
Vocabulary lists containing butter
Yellow
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His "rotating pantry" - consisting of long-life food supplies like oats, quinoa and peanut butter - is regularly used for cooking then replaced so "it's not just sitting there expiring".
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
“Just like when peanut butter sales go up,” the chicken-finger heir nodded solemnly.
From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026
The typical ingredients: peanut butter or almond butter, chia seeds, flax seeds, oatmeal and shredded coconut.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Mari Reynoso, Miguel's 26-year-old daughter, acknowledged that "industrialization" threatened her town's bread and butter.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
She tossed her head until her butter yellow ringlets bounced like springs.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
WSJ | Buy Side: The Vitamix 5200 makes excellent smoothies, soups, nut butters and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
Influencers fill aisles in search of trendy nut butters and overpriced salads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
It’s also a perfect moment to sneak in some supportive protein: protein powder, silken tofu, or nut butters.
From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2026
Specialty brands of compound and flavored butters are being sold for $20 each and $60 per bundle.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2025
“I can’t figure why you’d want to paint the cabinets, but whatever butters your biscuit.”
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
Zoo officials made the announcement in a recent Instagram post that included a video of the little mammals known for their distinct scent of buttered popcorn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Charity Angél Dawson, who has performed in Broadway productions of “Waitress” and “Chicago,” buttered up the crowd between renditions of songs popularized by Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
A standard feature is the halo, a clearly defined sphere that sits like a buttered bonnet on the head of the saint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
When I finally nailed a roast chicken — buttered and oiled, stuffed with lemon wedges and hunks of onion and fennel — I felt like a goddess.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025
I'm about to toss out chunks of buttered bread when a voice catches me off guard.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
Meanwhile, the buttering up risks making Mr. Trump look like a chump if the Chinese don’t give him something in return.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
Before Musk decided to exit OpenAI, Brockman described his attempts to gain more control over the company, an effort that included "buttering up" Brockman and another co-founder, Ilya Sutskever.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Besides, Colby has long displayed a knack for buttering up his superiors.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2025
He also wasn’t shy about scolding dining companions who committed such sins as buttering their bread or not eating all their vegetables.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025
I knew and they knew he was saying we got to remember which side our bread is buttered on down at the store, and who is buttering it.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
