buttress

American  

[buh-tris] / ˈbʌ trɪs /

noun

1. any external prop or support built to steady a structure by opposing its outward thrusts, especially a projecting support built into or against the outside of a masonry wall.

2. any prop or support.

3. a thing shaped like a buttress, as a tree trunk with a widening base.

4. a bony or horny protuberance, especially on a horse's hoof.

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verb (used with object)

1. to support by a buttress; prop up.

2. to give encouragement or support to (a person, plan, etc.).

   Synonyms:

   reinforce, brace, inspirit, support, hearten, encourage

buttress British  

/ ˈbʌtrɪs /

noun

1. Also called: pier.  a construction, usually of brick or stone, built to support a wall See also flying buttress

2. any support or prop

3. something shaped like a buttress, such as a projection from a mountainside

4. either of the two pointed rear parts of a horse's hoof

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verb

1. to support (a wall) with a buttress

2. to support or sustain

Other Word Forms

• buttressless adjective
• buttresslike adjective
• nonbuttressed adjective
• unbuttressed adjective

Etymology

Origin of buttress

1350–1400; Middle English butres ≪ Old French ( arc ) boterez thrusting (arch) nominative singular of boteret (accusative), equivalent to boter- abutment (perhaps < Germanic; butt ³ ) + -et -et

Example Sentences

Nor did the regime implement any major domestic political and economic reforms that could have buttressed its popular support.

From The Wall Street Journal

In addition, Japan’s close ties with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, India and the U.S. form structural buttresses as Middle Eastern countries undergo their own pivot toward the Indo-Pacific region.

From The Wall Street Journal

They are integral parts of a dynamic structural system—their weight of stone pushing the walls outward while the flying buttresses outside push them inward—the two forces exactly matching, like a perfectly balanced seesaw.

From The Wall Street Journal

There’s nothing like a Fed put to buttress markets, even if doubts exist this whole artificial-intelligence thing is going to work out swimmingly.

From MarketWatch

Monday's collapses affected a buttress and part of the tower's base, then part of the stairwell and the roof, Rome's Directorate of Cultural Heritage said in a statement.

From Barron's

Related Words

• reinforce
• strengthen
• uphold