butts and bounds

American  

plural noun

Law.

1. the boundary lines of a piece of land, as used in deeds, titles, etc.

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Etymology

Origin of butts and bounds

1550–60; butts ends ( butt ² ); bounds sides ( bound ³ )

Example Sentences

The whole were under the command of a commodore, while captain Hutchinson, agent for the prisoners of war, exercised a sort of control over the whole; but the butts and bounds of their jurisdiction I never knew.

From Project Gutenberg

That is a country of laws; and their very sailors are all full of "rights" and "wrongs;" of "justice and injustice;" and of defining crimes, and ascertaining "the butts and bounds" of national and individual rights.

From Project Gutenberg

We desire you to assign the Butts and Bounds of each of us; and that for the future we may both enjoy our own.

From Project Gutenberg