abutment

[ uh-buht-muhnt ]
See synonyms for abutment on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Architecture, Civil Engineering.

    • a masonry mass supporting and receiving the thrust of part of an arch or vault.

    • a force that serves to abut an arch or vault.

    • a mass, as of masonry, receiving the arch, beam, truss, etc., at each end of a bridge.

    • a mass or structure for resisting the pressure of water on a bridge, pier, or the like.

    • each of the parts of a canyon or the like receiving the thrusts of an arch dam.

    • a structure for absorbing tensions from reinforcing strands for concrete being prestressed.

  2. the place where projecting parts meet; junction.

  1. Dentistry. a tooth or tooth root that supports or stabilizes a bridge, denture, or other prosthetic appliance.

Origin of abutment

1
First recorded in 1635–45; abut + -ment

Words Nearby abutment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use abutment in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for abutment

abutment

abuttal

/ (əˈbʌtmənt) /


noun
  1. the state or process of abutting

    • something that abuts

    • the thing on which something abuts

    • the point of junction between them

  1. architect civil engineering a construction that takes the thrust of an arch or vault or supports the end of a bridge

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