butter

American  

[buht-er] / ˈbʌt ər /

noun

1. the fatty portion of milk, separating as a soft whitish or yellowish solid when milk or cream is agitated or churned.

2. this substance, processed for cooking and table use.

3. any of various other soft spreads for bread.

   apple butter; peanut butter.

4. any of various substances of butterlike consistency, as various metallic chlorides, and certain vegetable oils solid at ordinary temperatures.

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verb (used with object)

1. to put butter on or in; spread or grease with butter.

2. to apply a liquefied bonding material to (a piece or area), as mortar to a course of bricks.

3. Metalworking. to cover (edges to be welded together) with a preliminary surface of the weld metal.

verb phrase

1. butter up to flatter someone in order to gain a favor.

   He suspected that they were buttering him up when everyone suddenly started being nice to him.

butter British  

/ ˈbʌtə /

noun

1. 1. an edible fatty whitish-yellow solid made from cream by churning, for cooking and table use

   2. ( as modifier )

      butter icing

2. any substance with a butter-like consistency, such as peanut butter or vegetable butter

3. to look innocent, although probably not so

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verb

1. to put butter on or in

2. to flatter

butter Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing butter

• bread and butter
• bread-and-butter letter
• know which side of bread is buttered

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Other Word Forms

• butterless adjective
• butterlike adjective
• unbuttered adjective

Etymology

Origin of butter

before 1000; Middle English; Old English butere < Latin būtȳrum < Greek boútȳron

Example Sentences

Recently it has joined the AI rush, deviating from its bread and butter of conventional infrastructure and blue-chip stocks, pumping money into several large AI data center funds, including one with asset manager Brookfield.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

You might have seen the caramelised biscuit Biscoff creme egg sitting alongside others in your local supermarket recently - a white chocolate version, Terry's chocolate orange, Lindt, Reese's peanut butter and more.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

The pair, who live in a cramped studio apartment in a crumbling colonial-era building, can’t afford butter or mayonnaise, so breakfast is a piece of plain bread.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 22, 2026

There’s also my go-to dining hall omelette and scrambled eggs, made with butter, crumbled feta cheese, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and Old Bay seasoning.

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

Helena hugs me and hugs me, and brings me some toast with butter.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Related Words

• margarine
• oil
• shortening