• (Received Pronunciation,General American)enPR:bŭt,IPA^(key):/bʌt/

• Audio(US):

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• (Northern England)IPA^(key):/bʊt/
• Rhymes:-ʌt
• Homophone:but

FromMiddle Englishbut,butte(“goal, mark, butt of land”), fromOld Englishbyt,bytt(“small piece of land”) and*butt (attested in diminutiveOld Englishbuttuc(“end, small piece of land”) >Englishbuttock), fromProto-West Germanic*butt, fromProto-Germanic*buttaz(“end, piece”), fromProto-Indo-European*bʰudʰnós(“bottom”), later thematic variant ofProto-Indo-European*bʰudʰmḗn ~ *bʰudʰn-, perhaps fromProto-Indo-European*dʰewbʰ-(“deep”). Cognate withNorwegianbutt(“stump, block”),Icelandicbútur(“piece, fragment”),Low Germanbutt(“blunt, clumsy”). Influenced byOld Frenchbut,butte(“but, mark”), ultimately from the sameGermanic source. Compare alsoAlbanianbythë(“buttocks”),Ancient Greekπυθμήν(puthmḗn,“bottom of vessel”),Latinfundus(“bottom”) andSanskritबुध्न(budhná,“bottom”), from the sameProto-Indo-European root. Related tobottom,boot.

butt (pluralbutts)

1. (countable) Thelarger orthicker end of something; theblunt end, indistinction from thesharp or narrow end
   1. (Canada,US,Philippines,slang) Thebuttocks oranus(used as aminced oath in idiomatic expressions; less objectionable thanarse/ass).

      Get up off yourbutt and get to work.

      1. (slang) The whole buttocks andpelvic region that includes one'sprivate parts.

         I can see yourbutt.

      3. (slang,metonymic) Body; self.

         Get yourbutt to the car.

         We can't chat today. I have to get mybutt to work before I'm late.

   2. (leather trades) The thickest and stoutest part of tannedoxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks.
2. (countable) The waste end of anything.
   2. (slang) A used cigarette.
      • 1957,Jack Kerouac, chapter 10, inOn the Road, Viking Press,→OCLC, part 2:

        I walked around, pickingbutts from the street.

   3. A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.
      • c. 1850-1860, Alexander Mansfield Burrill,A New Law Dictionary and Glossary

        The hay was growing upon headlands andbutts in cornfields.

   4. (obsolete,West Country)Hassock.
   5. (US) Acrust end-piece of aloaf ofbread.

      Synonyms:boot,heel

3. (countable, generally) An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
   1. The end of afirearm opposite to that from which a bullet is fired.

      She was hit in the face with thebutt of a shotgun.

   2. (lacrosse) Theplastic orrubber cap used to cover the open end of alacrosse stick's shaft in order to reduce injury.
   3. The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of ahose.
   4. The end of a connectingrod or other like piece, to which theboxing is attached by thestrap,cotter, andgib.
   5. (mechanical) Ajoint where the ends of two objects comesquarely together withoutscarfing orchamfering.

      Synonym:butt joint

   6. (carpentry) A kind ofhinge used in hanging doors, etc., so named because it is attached to the inside edge of the door and butts against the casing, instead of on itsface, like the strap hinge; also calledbutt hinge.
   7. (shipbuilding) The joint where twoplanks in astrake meet.
   8. Theblunt back part of anaxehead or largeblade. Also called thepoll.
      • 1898,H.G. Wells,The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page231:

        I put out my hand and felt the meat-chopper hanging to the wall. In a flash I was after him. [...] With one last touch of humanity I turned the blade back and struck him with thebutt.

   9. (dialect ornautical, possiblydated) The direction from which the wind blows.
      • 1865, Arthur Kavanagh,The Cruise of the R.Y.S. Eva, page62:

        […] when the sun gets round to thebutt of the wind, the change, if any is coming, is then to be expected.

      • 2013 April 16, G. W. Maunsell,The Fisherman's Vade Mecum - A Compendium of Precepts, Counsel, Knowledge and Experience in Most Matters Pertaining to Fishing for Trout, Sea Trout, S, Read Books Ltd,→ISBN:

        […]'thebutt' of the wind, the wind will increase or continue. When the sky is light and clear in'thebutt' of the wind, the wind will die away. A strong wind which changes round with the sun E to S to W (clockwise) will die away, and […]

4. (countable) Alimit; abound; agoal; the extreme bound; theend.
   • c.1603–1604 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene ii], line267:

     Here is my journey's end, here is mybutt / And very sea-mark of my utmost sail.

   1. Amark to beshot at; atarget.
      • 1599 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene ii], line186:

        To which is fixed, as an aim orbutt[…]

      • 1786, Francis Grose,A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page37:

        The inhabitants of all cities and towns were ordered to makebutts, and to keep them in repair, under a penalty of twenty shillings per month, and to exercise themselves in shooting at them on holidays.

      • 1697,Virgil, “The Second Book of theGeorgics”, inJohn Dryden, transl.,The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London:[…]Jacob Tonson, […],→OCLC:

        The groom his fellow groom atbutts defies, / And bends his bow, and levels with his eyes.

   3. (usually as "butt of (a) joke") A person at whomridicule,jest, orcontempt is directed.

      Synonym:laughing stock

      He's usually thebutt of their jokes.

      • 1711 October 1 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison;Richard Steeleet al.], “THURSDAY, September 20, 1711”, inThe Spectator, number175; republished inAlexander Chalmers, editor,The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.:D[aniel] Appleton & Company,1853,→OCLC:

        I played a sentence or two at mybutt, which I thought very smart.

        The spelling has been modernized.

      • 1876, Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb,Annals of Tacitus., translation of original by Cornelius Tacitus, page300:

        The man was one of the most conspicuously infamous sights in the imperial court, bred, as he had been, in a shoemaker's shop, of a deformed person and vulgar wit, originally introduced as abutt.

   4. Thehut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice.

• The wordbutt for "buttocks" is considered "less vulgar" than "arse orass", but still not as "polite" as sayingbottom orrear end.

butt (third-person singular simple presentbutts,present participlebutting,simple past and past participlebutted)

1. To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; toabut.
   • 1612,Michael Drayton, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [John Selden], editor,Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London:[…][Humphrey Lownes] for M[athew] Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie,→OCLC:

     And Barnsdale there dothbutt on Don's well-watered ground.

   • 1878 November 8, C. Todd, “Observations at the Adelaide Observatory”, inMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, volume39, number 1, page18:

     In the sketch (which is taken about 75 Jovian days after that of the 2nd July) there is shown a dark copper-coloured streak along the southern margin of the south brown belt,butting on to a bluff-headed streak of cumulus cloud which may be the same remarkable bluff head noticed on July 2.

• (buttocks):callipygian,callipygous,dasypygal

FromMiddle Englishbutten, fromAnglo-Normanbuter,boter(“to push, butt, strike”), fromFrankish*bautan(“to hit, beat”), fromProto-Germanic*bautaną(“to beat, push”), fromProto-Indo-European*bʰewd-(“to beat, push, strike”). Cognate withOld Englishbēatan(“to beat”). More atbeat.

butt (third-person singular simple presentbutts,present participlebutting,simple past and past participlebutted)

1. (transitive) Tostrike bluntly, particularly with the head.
   • 1651,Henry Wotton,A Description of the Country's Recreations:

     Two harmless lambs arebutting one the other.

2. (intransitive) To strike bluntly with the head.

   Ramsbutt at other males during mating season.

3. (transitive,intransitive, easternCanada, parts of the northeasternUS) Tocut in line (in front of someone).

   Teacher! He justbutted me!

   • 2016, Chandler, Dan,Bullying in Plain Sight: How Inattentive Adults Encourage the School Bullies, Mustang, O.K.:Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC,→ISBN,page45:

     Additionally, kids are pinched, fondled, propositioned, and hit; and it all goes unseen amid the general confusion and nonspecific orders from the cafeteria supervisors who are yelling things like, "Keep it down, you people!" "Nobutting!" "Wait your turn, boys!" All of which sound as though there is law and order, just no actual justice to the victim.

butt (pluralbutts)

1. A push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head; ahead butt.

   Be careful in the pen, that ram can knock you down with abutt.

   The handcuffed suspect gave the officer a desperatebutt in the chest.

   • 1907,Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson,Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published1980, page167:

     Its noise attracted its outside mate, and the child gloried in its buzzingbutts to get in.

2. A thrust in fencing.
   • 1718,Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, inPoems on Several Occasions, London:[…]Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […],→OCLC:

     To prove who gave the fairerbutt, / John shows the chalk on Robert's coat.

FromMiddle Englishbit,bitte,bytte,butte(“leather bottle”), fromOld Englishbytt,byt (fromProto-West Germanic*buttjā) andOld Frenchboute(“cask”) and other etymologies on this page, all fromVulgar Latin*buttia.Doublet ofboccia.

butt (pluralbutts)

1. (English units) An English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 126wine gallons which is one-halftun.

   Synonym:pipe

   Coordinate terms:(in order of increasing volume)rundlet;barrel;tierce;hogshead;puncheon,tertian;tun

   • 1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers,A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, page205:

     Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, abutt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31.5 gallons, a rundlet 18.5 gallons. –

3. A woodencask for storing wine, usually containing 126 gallons.
   • 1610–1611 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene ii], line121:

     […]I escap'd upon abutt of sack which the sailors heav'd o'erboard[…]

FromMiddle Englishbut,butte,botte(“flounder; plaice; turbot”), possibly derived fromsense 1(“blunt end”), meaning "blunt-headed fish." CompareDutchbot and the second element ofEnglishhalibut.

Cognate withWest Frisianbot,German Low GermanButt,GermanButt,Butte,Swedishbutta.

• but

butt (pluralbutts)

1. (Northern England) Any of variousflatfish such assole,plaice orturbot

• halibut

(Thisetymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at theEtymology scriptorium.)

butt (pluralbutts)

1. (dated,West Country andIreland) A heavy two-wheeledcart.
2. (dated,West Country andIreland) A three-wheeled cart resembling awheelbarrow.

Originally apparently a less-desired cut, named either due to its often being packed inbutts(“casks”) for storage and shipping, or from the use ofbutt to refer to "the larger or thicker end of something, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end" or "the waste end".

butt (pluralbutts)

1. Theshoulder of an animal, especially the portion above thepicnic, as acut ofmeat.
   • 1926, E. C. Johnson, Edward James Wilford, Ernest Newton Fergus, George Roberts, Henry Ernest Curtis, John B. Hutson, Oscar Bernard Jesness, William Durrett Nicholls,Man Labor, Horse Work and Materials Used in Producing Crops in Christian County, page365:

     Cut the foot off one inch above the joint, as this makes a much neater looking shoulder. The top third of the shoulder that was removed from the “California ham” is known as the shoulderbutt. This piece is divided into leanbutt ("Boston Butt") and fatbutt ("Clear Plate")[…] The leanbutt makes an excellent roast.

   • 2003, Harry Jordan,Meat Harry: A Meat Lover's Guide to Buying and Preparing Beef, Pork, and Poultry, GeneralStore PublishingHouse,→ISBN, page114:

     Alternative choices for the shoulderbutt oven roast: if you are buying thebutt of pork then you must enjoy the flavour that you get only with the fattiet cuts of meat; consequently I suggest the boneless pork loin rib end. Apart from thebutt, this wonderful piece of pork has the most fat[…]

   • 2019 July 22, Chris Grove,The Offset Smoker Cookbook: Pitmaster Techniques and Mouthwatering Recipes for Authentic, Low-and-Slow BBQ, Simon and Schuster,→ISBN, page85:

     Wrap the porkbutt. Work quickly and purposefully to minimize the time the porkbutt is out of the smoker. Place the porkbutt in the center of a single 18 x 36-inch piece of foil.

• Wright, Joseph (1898)The English Dialect Dictionary‎^[1], volume 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pages463–465
• Patricia T. O'Conner,Stewart Kellerman quoting Steve Hartman Keiser (2021 December 27) “Cut, butt, skip, or ditch in line?”, inGrammarphobia‎^[2], archived fromthe original on2023-05-21: “He says "budding" (or "butting") "appears to have a wider general distribution than budging" and "can be found in eastern Canada, upstate New York (where budging is also attested), Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Ohio."”

• “butt”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “butt”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.

FromMiddle Low Germanbutt, bott.

• IPA^(key):/bʉt/

butt (neuter singularbutt,definite singular and pluralbutte,comparativebuttere,indefinite superlativebuttest,definite superlativebutteste)

1. blunt(not sharp)
2. (vinkel)obtuse(angle between 90 and 180 degrees)

• “butt” inThe Bokmål Dictionary.

FromMiddle Low Germanbutt, bott.

butt (neuter singularbutt,definite singular and pluralbutte,comparativebuttare,indefinite superlativebuttast,definite superlativebuttaste)

1. blunt(not sharp)
2. (vinkel)obtuse(angle between 90 and 180 degrees)

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

butt

1. pastparticiple ofbu

• “butt” inThe Nynorsk Dictionary.