abut

[ uh-buht ]

/ əˈbʌt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abut ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), a·but·ted, a·but·ting.

to be adjacent; touch or join at the edge or border (often followed by on, upon, or against): This piece of land abuts on a street.

verb (used with object), a·but·ted, a·but·ting.

to be adjacent to; border on; end at.

to support by an abutment.

RELATED WORDS

adjoin, join, neighbor

Nearby words

Origin of abut

1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French, Old French abuter touch at one end, verbal derivative of a but to (the) end; see a-⁵, butt²

Related formsun·a·but·ting, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for abut

There is some debate about how this will affect clinics that abut sidewalks or public streets.
The Supreme Court Lets Abortion Clinics Protect Themselves|Sally Kohn|June 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With a few exceptions, they are charged with no atmosphere and abut at no climax.
Modernities|Horace Barnett Samuel
Immense private houses, with the amplest grounds to be found perhaps in any great city, abut on meanly proportioned streets.
Charities and the Commons: The Pittsburgh Survey, Part II: The Place|Various
Also, the extremities of the planks themselves when they are united, or abut against each other.
The Sailor's Word-Book|William Henry Smyth

The need of some central building, against which these additions may abut, will be felt.
The Ground Plan of the English Parish Church|A. Hamilton Thompson
At Abut he determined to await the arrival of another battalion before advancing further.
The Egyptian campaigns, 1882 to 1885|Charles Royle

British Dictionary definitions for abut

abut

/ (əˈbʌt) /

verb abuts, abutting or abutted

(usually foll by on, upon, or against) to adjoin, touch, or border on (something) at one end

Word Origin for abut

C15: from Old French abouter to join at the ends, border on; influenced by abuter to touch at an end, buttress

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for abut

abut

mid-13c., "to end at, to border on," from Old French aboter "join end to end, touch upon" (13c.), from à "to" (see ad-) + bout "end" (see butt (n.3)). Related: Abutted; abutting.