buttress
Americannoun
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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.
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any prop or support.
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a thing shaped like a buttress, as a tree trunk with a widening base.
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a bony or horny protuberance, especially on a horse's hoof.
noun
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Also called: pier. a construction, usually of brick or stone, built to support a wall See also flying buttress
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any support or prop
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something shaped like a buttress, such as a projection from a mountainside
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either of the two pointed rear parts of a horse's hoof
verb
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to support (a wall) with a buttress
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to support or sustain
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has buttressedperfect 3rd person singular
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have buttressedperfect
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are buttressingprogressive
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has been buttressingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am buttressingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been buttressingperfect progressive
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is buttressingprogressive 3rd person singular
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buttressessingular 3rd person
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buttressingparticiple
Past
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had buttressedperfect
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had been buttressingperfect progressive
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was buttressingprogressive singular
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were buttressingprogressive plural
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buttressedparticiple
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buttressedsimple
Future
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; see butt 3) + -et -et
Explanation
You can buttress an argument with solid facts or your financial portfolio with safe investments. You may find that giving compliments to everyone you meet buttresses your popularity. To buttress is to sustain or reinforce. A buttress is a structure that adds stability to a wall or building, and this innovation played a significant role in the evolution of architecture. Think of a medieval cathedral. It's an incredibly tall, open building filled with light from vast windows. Without buttresses supporting the walls and carrying the weight of the ceiling away from the building and down to the ground, this cathedral would be impossible. Picture this when you use buttress figuratively as a verb meaning to strengthen and support.
Vocabulary lists containing buttress
The Tragedy of Macbeth
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To Kill a Mockingbird
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Built To Last: Architectural Parlance
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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.
Outside, he posed for selfies and held a 6-foot-long spurtle carved with a chain saw by local artist Alice Buttress and painted gold.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 19, 2025
A rescue team was brought part of the way up the mountain by helicopter the next morning and climbed the East Buttress to perform the rescue.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2024
The climber’s partner told rangers early Saturday morning the fall occurred Friday around 11 p.m. while they were on a route known as the West Buttress to Peters Glacier, the agency said.
From Seattle Times • May 20, 2023
Last month, the government appointed former Just Eat chief executive David Buttress to work with the private sector to identify, develop and promote new and existing initiatives such as discounted prices or product offers.
From Reuters • Jul. 20, 2022
In the chapel to your left a monument with recumbent heffigies of Bishop Buttress and Dean Gurgoyle, represented laying side by side with clasped 'ands, in token of the lifelong affection between them.
From Puppets at Large Scenes and Subjects from Mr Punch's Show by Anstey, F.
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.
