abut
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to be adjacent to; border on; end at.
-
to support by an abutment.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
abutsimple
-
abutssimple
-
have abuttedperfect
-
has abuttedperfect
-
am abuttingprogressive
-
are abuttingprogressive
-
is abuttingprogressive
-
have been abuttingperfect progressive
-
has been abuttingperfect progressive
Past
-
abuttedsimple
-
had abuttedperfect
-
was abuttingprogressive
-
were abuttingprogressive
-
had been abuttingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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, butt 2
Explanation
When something borders something else, it is said to abut it. The term is often used in real estate to refer to a lot line. Wouldn’t it be nice to have your back yard abut a forest preserve or park? The Old French word but meant "end" — think of "butt" for a crude way to remember that! — and it was joined to a-, from the Latin ad- "near to." The result was abuter, which meant "to touch at an end." The word eventually became abouter, meaning "to join at the ends, or border on." The idea of abut suggesting a common boundary comes from the late Middle English, and today we use the word when anything touches something else.
Vocabulary lists containing abut
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Close Encounters: Synonyms for "Near"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Internment
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
That puts the rest of the oil-producing countries that abut the Persian Gulf in a bind.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
TotalEnergies will likely remain cautious abut its balance sheet and announce a $750 million share buyback, they write.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
But after Lord Leveson published his report into the ethics of the press in 2012 police forces became much more cautious abut what information they released.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2025
Hundreds of thousands of people live around the Bien Hoa air base, and some of their homes abut the site’s perimeter fence, just yards from the contaminated areas.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2025
The principal residences, standing in their own gardens surrounded by foliage and flowers, are scattered over the town, as are also the slums, almost the worst of which abut on the best residential quarters.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 7 "Geoponici" to "Germany" by Various
Winfield abuts Regents Park, which is picturesque, has ducks and is clearly urban.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
The seven-story addition directly abuts the original building without seeming to touch it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Her family's home is part of a suburban development that abuts a massive construction site.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
The announcement from Holcomb’s office and AWS did not include a timeline for the data center campus in northern Indiana’s St. Joseph County, which abuts the Michigan state line.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
In London, where the river Thames arches away from the city near Belgravia, one might begin a walk at Vincent Square, the trapezoid-shaped park that abuts the office of the Royal Horticultural Society.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The tunnel had been there since before the war, said Mohammad Doghmosh, adding that it abutted a low building.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
Some of their farms even abutted the graveyard.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2023
The library, which abutted the street, violated that policy.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
Rather than one bookcase, Barth included two, abutted side by side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2023
Holmes acquired a ticket to a village called Englewood in the town of Lake, a municipality of 200,000 people that abutted Chicago’s southernmost boundary.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Behind them the water is a luminescent strip of blue, abutting a silhouetted skyline in which many of the buildings belch smoke; a few of the industrial structures spew fire.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
An unknown projectile hit a cargo ship in the strategic Strait of Hormuz abutting Iran, causing a fire and forcing the crew to evacuate, a maritime security agency said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
She travels to Savannah’s Bonaventure graveyard, abutting the Wilmington River, “where shrimp boats float, a mostly silent river that is only audible when a breeze shakes the trees and you hear the water whisper.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
The line of cars crawled toward the parking lot and into an overflow field abutting a baseball complex.
From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2024
In the broad, covered corridor—the colonnaded kuthambalam abutting the heart of the temple where the Blue God lived with his flute, the drummers drummed and the dancers danced, their colors turning slowly in the night.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
