butt

¹

[ buht ]

noun

1. the end or extremity of anything, especially the thicker, larger, or blunt end considered as a bottom, base, support, or handle, as of a log, fishing rod, or pistol.
2. an end that is not used or consumed; remnant:

   a cigar butt.

3. a lean cut of pork shoulder.
4. Slang. the buttocks.
5. Slang. a cigarette.

butt

²

[ buht ]

noun

1. a person or thing that is an object of wit, ridicule, sarcasm, contempt, etc.

   Synonyms: patsy, pigeon, prey, laughingstock, gull, dupe, mark, target, victim

2. a target.
3. (on a rifle range)
   1. a wall of earth located behind the targets to prevent bullets from scattering over a large area.
   2. butts, a wall behind which targets can be safely lowered, scored, and raised during firing practice.
4. butt hinge.
5. Obsolete. a goal; limit.

verb (used without object)

1. to have an end or projection on; be adjacent to; abut.

verb (used with object)

1. to position or fasten an end (of something).
2. to place or join the ends (of two things) together; set end-to-end.

butt

³

[ buht ]

verb (used with object)

1. to strike or push with the head or horns.

verb (used without object)

1. to strike or push something or at something with the head or horns.
2. to project.
3. Machinery. (of wheels in a gear train) to strike one another instead of meshing.

noun

1. a push or blow with the head or horns.

verb phrase

1. to stop meddling in the affairs or intruding in the conversation of others:

   I tried to talk some sense into him and was told to butt out.

2. to meddle in the affairs or intrude in the conversation of others; interfere:

   It was none of his concern, so he didn't butt in.

butt

⁴

[ buht ]

noun

1. a large cask for wine, beer, or ale.
2. any cask or barrel.
3. any of various units of capacity, usually considered equal to two hogsheads.

butt

⁵

or but

[ buht ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) butt, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) butts.

1. any of several flatfishes, especially the halibut.

butt

¹

/ bʌt /

noun

1. a person or thing that is the target of ridicule, wit, etc
2. shooting archery
   1. a mound of earth behind the target on a target range that stops bullets or wide shots
   2. the target itself
   3. plural the target range
3. a low barrier, usually of sods or peat, behind which sportsmen shoot game birds, esp grouse
4. archaic.
   goal; aim

verb

1. usually foll byon or against to lie or be placed end on to; abut

   to butt a beam against a wall

butt

²

/ bʌt /

verb

1. to strike or push (something) with the head or horns
2. intr to project; jut
3. intr; foll by in or into to intrude, esp into a conversation; interfere; meddle
4. butt out informal.
   butt out to stop interfering or meddling

noun

1. a blow with the head or horns

butt

³

/ bʌt /

noun

1. the thicker or blunt end of something, such as the end of the stock of a rifle
2. the unused end of something, esp of a cigarette; stub
3. tanning the portion of a hide covering the lower backside of the animal
4. informal.
   the buttocks
5. See cigarette
   a slang word for cigarette
6. See butt hinge, butt joint
   building trades short for butt joint butt hinge

Butt

⁴

/ bʌt /

noun

1. ButtClara18721936FEnglishMUSIC: contralto Dame Clara . 1872–1936, English contralto

butt

⁵

/ bʌt /

noun

1. a large cask, esp one with a capacity of two hogsheads, for storing wine or beer
2. a US unit of liquid measure equal to 126 US gallons

Derived Forms

• ˈbutter, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of butt¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English bott “(thick) end, buttock,” Old English butt “tree stump” (in placenames); akin to Swedish but “stump,” Danish but “stubby”; further origin uncertain; buttock

Origin of butt²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French but “target, goal,” probably ultimately from Old Norse bútr “stump, log” (from the use of a wooden block or stump as a target in archery, etc.); butt ¹, butte ( def )

Origin of butt³

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English butten, bouten, from Anglo-French buter, butter, Old French bouter, buter “to thrust, strike,” from Germanic; compare Old Norse bauta “to strike,” Middle Dutch botten “to strike, sprout”; beat ( def )

Origin of butt⁴

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English but(t)e, bot(t), from Anglo-French bo(u)t(e); Middle French, from Old Provençal bota, from Late Latin butta, buttis, akin to Greek boût(t)is “vessel in the shape of a frustum of a cone” (of pre-Greek origin)

Origin of butt⁵

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English but(te), botte; cognate with Swedish butta “turbot,” German Butt “brill, turbot, flounder,” Dutch bot “flounder”

Word History and Origins

Origin of butt¹

C14 (in the sense: mark for archery practice): from Old French but ; related to French butte knoll, target

Origin of butt²

C12: from Old French boter , of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch botten to strike; see beat , button

Origin of butt³

C15 (in the sense: thick end of something, buttock): related to Old English buttuc end, ridge, Middle Dutch bot stumpy

Origin of butt⁴

C14: from Old French botte , from Old Provençal bota , from Late Latin buttis cask, perhaps from Greek butinē chamber pot

Example Sentences

In 2004, I was a surrogate for John Kerry and really worked my butt off to try to get him elected.

From Ozy

As tough as it was, covid kicked our butts, but we did a good job bouncing back with the little practice time we had.

From Washington Post

Dumpling maker Calvin Shea recommends pork butt for dumplings.

From Washington Post

We’re the butt of the nation’s jokes every time the federal government shuts down for at least 300,000 workers at a whisper of snowfall.

From Washington Post

Perhaps it’s the litany of prescribed butt exercises that should land me an ExOfficio modeling contract any day now.

From Outside Online

Thus begins an episode of The Mindy Project centered around a guy trying to have butt sex with his girlfriend.

From The Daily Beast

It was the epitome of Kim Kardashian, and a fitting summation of the Year of Butt.

From The Daily Beast

The reality TV mogul bared her butt—and everything else, too—for Paper Magazine in a spread that sent Twitter into a tizzy.

From The Daily Beast

But, Adnan suggest that Jay butt-dialed Nisha by mistake on his phone and accidentally left a two-minute voicemail.

From The Daily Beast

Elsewhere on the Internet, and often, Turkers butt heads over which tools work best, or what nation they hail from.

From The Daily Beast

During this conversation Harry's right hand was resting beneath his jacket, grasping the butt of his revolver.

From Project Gutenberg

There is no part of these castings but may be easily conveyed in a common butt or cart.

From Project Gutenberg

The beverage warmed him in body; but it would need a butt of it to thaw the misery from his soul.

From Project Gutenberg

The next instant, he has raked the butt of your discarded cigarette from beneath your feet with the dexterity of a- 31 - croupier.

From Project Gutenberg

She began to see that there was a chance for her to escape being a butt for her school-fellows jokes.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• backside
• behind
• bottom
• bum
• derriere
• tush