butter
Americannoun
-
butter
plural
-
the fatty portion of milk, separating as a soft whitish or yellowish solid when milk or cream is agitated or churned.
-
this substance, processed for cooking and table use.
-
any of various other soft spreads for bread.
apple butter; peanut butter.
-
any of various substances of butterlike consistency, as various metallic chlorides, and certain vegetable oils solid at ordinary temperatures.
verb (used with object)
-
butters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
buttered,
past participle, past
-
buttering
present participle
-
to put butter on or in; spread or grease with butter.
-
to apply a liquefied bonding material to (a piece or area), as mortar to a course of bricks.
-
Metalworking. to cover (edges to be welded together) with a preliminary surface of the weld metal.
verb phrase
noun
-
-
an edible fatty whitish-yellow solid made from cream by churning, for cooking and table use
-
( as modifier )
butter icing
-
-
any substance with a butter-like consistency, such as peanut butter or vegetable butter
-
to look innocent, although probably not so
verb
-
to put butter on or in
-
to flatter
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
buttersimple
-
butterssimple
-
have butteredperfect
-
has butteredperfect
-
am butteringprogressive
-
are butteringprogressive
-
is butteringprogressive
-
have been butteringperfect progressive
-
has been butteringperfect progressive
Past
-
butteredsimple
-
had butteredperfect
-
was butteringprogressive
-
were butteringprogressive
-
had been butteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of butter
before 1000; Middle English; Old English butere < Latin būtȳrum < Greek boútȳron
Explanation
Butter is a creamy spread made from milk fat. Your favorite breakfast might be hot toast slathered with butter. The process of making butter involves churning cream until the fats coagulate and become creamy and pale yellow. Butter is sometimes salted, and usually formed into sticks for cooks to use in frying, baking, and spreading on corn on the cob and baked goods. To do this is to butter your bread. The Greek root word is boutyron, literally "cow cheese," from bous, "cow."
Vocabulary lists containing butter
Yellow
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!
National Cookie Day
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!
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:
Larry, who’s been snapping up South Florida property the way the rest of us buy peanut butter pretzels at Trader Joe’s, won’t feel any hardship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
He was so stricken when a local restaurant mistakenly grilled his food in butter, instead of oil, that he was unconscious when the ambulance arrived.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
During the episode, which aired on Tuesday, Danni said they had been unable to taste the cookies because the ingredients included cream and butter and they were vegan.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Instead, it was a layered cake made from whipping butter and sugar until it was frothy and then sifting in the dry ingredients.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
It probably wasn’t necessary to butter her up, but it couldn’t hurt.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
She writes his speeches, manages his appointments and butters up an important colleague with the gift of a ceramic pig.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
WSJ | Buy Side: The Vitamix 5200 makes excellent smoothies, soups, nut butters and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
Influencers fill aisles in search of trendy nut butters and overpriced salads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
This countertop infusion machine manages every step — drying, decarboxylation, infusion — so you can turn out oils, butters, honeys, and more with reliable results.
From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2025
“I can’t figure why you’d want to paint the cabinets, but whatever butters your biscuit.”
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
Zoo officials made the announcement in a recent Instagram post that included a video of the little mammals known for their distinct scent of buttered popcorn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Often smeared on hot buttered toast, it tastes like a fishy, peppery paté, befitting the mock Latin name Osborn gave to it, Patum Peperium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Top them on warm, buttered toast for a hearty breakfast or on pizza for a kick of umami.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
When I finally nailed a roast chicken — buttered and oiled, stuffed with lemon wedges and hunks of onion and fennel — I felt like a goddess.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025
We have eggs, buttered toast, and a glass of milk each for dinner; there’s a small sack of coal in the corner, and magazine cuttings pinned all over the wall.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
“People are being more differentiated, and employers are being more intentional in terms of how they use those budgets. There’s not a lot of peanut buttering, as there might have been in the past.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Before Musk decided to exit OpenAI, Brockman described his attempts to gain more control over the company, an effort that included "buttering up" Brockman and another co-founder, Ilya Sutskever.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
Besides, Colby has long displayed a knack for buttering up his superiors.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2025
He also wasn’t shy about scolding dining companions who committed such sins as buttering their bread or not eating all their vegetables.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2025
"Gravy on the turkey" was what she called it when someone was buttering her up.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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.
