butch
[boo ch]
- butch haircut.
- Slang. a lesbian, especially one notably masculine in manner or appearance.
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- Slang.
- (of a girl or woman) having traits of personality, dress, behavior, or appearance usually associated with males.
- (of a male) decidedly or exaggeratedly masculine in manner or appearance.
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Origin of butch
First recorded in 1940–45; apparently from the proper name
Butch
[boo ch]
- a male given name.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for butch
Contemporary Examples
She told a story of a fellow employee who identifies as a butch dyke (a lesbian who takes on a more masculine identity).
Haute Butch is one of a number of new design houses targeting the trans, butch, and androgynous dressers.
Sports stars going on Dancing with the Stars who are big, butch, and energetic are talking about how exhausting it is.
Nigel Lythgoe on How to Save Reality TV, ‘On the Town,’ and ‘Brokeback Ballroom’Kevin Fallon
October 22, 2014
But when Tarantino cast Travolta, he thought Willis would make a good Butch Coolidge.
The Secrets of ‘Pulp Fiction’: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About the Movie on Its 20th AnniversaryMarlow Stern
October 19, 2014
The scene between getaway cab driver Esmeralda Villalobos (Angela Jones) and Butch is one of the oddest in Pulp Fiction.
The Secrets of ‘Pulp Fiction’: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About the Movie on Its 20th AnniversaryMarlow Stern
October 19, 2014
Historical Examples
If the boys quarrelled with him at play, the first word was "your mother's a butch."
The ManxmanHall Caine
What do you think of them, Butch, now that you've clapped your eyes on them?
Bert Wilson on the GridironJ. W. Duffield
Plimsoll shot a look of contempt at Butch, making the proposal.
Rimrock TrailJ. Allan Dunn
"I suppose you'd be jealous if we stuck around," said Butch, leering now at Molly.
Rimrock TrailJ. Allan Dunn
But Blackbeard must have caught the shine of Butch's barrel.
Rimrock TrailJ. Allan Dunn
butch
- (of a woman or man) markedly or aggressively masculine
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- a lesbian who is noticeably masculine
- a strong rugged man
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Word Origin
C18: back formation from butcher
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 butch
n.
"tough youth," 1902, first attested in nickname of U.S. outlaw George Cassidy (1866-?), probably an abbreviation of butcher (n.). Sense of "aggressive lesbian" is 1940s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper