butt 1
(bŭt)v. butt·ed, butt·ing, butts
v.tr. To hit or push against with the head or horns; ram.
v.intr.1. To hit or push something with the head or horns.
2. To project forward or out.
n. A push or blow with the head or horns.
Phrasal Verbs: butt in1. To interfere or meddle in other people's affairs.
2. To interrupt the conversation or activity of other people.
3. To move into a line of people or things out of turn.
butt out Slang To disengage from a matter involving another person.
butt′er n.
butt 2
(bŭt)tr. & intr.v. butt·ed,
butt·ing,
butts To join or be joined end to end; abut.
n.1. A butt joint.
2. A butt hinge.
[Middle English butten, from Anglo-Norman butter (variant of Old French bouter; see butt1) and from but, end; see butt4.]
butt 3
(bŭt)n.1. One that serves as an object of ridicule or contempt: I was the butt of their jokes.
2. a. A target, as in archery or riflery.
b. butts A target range.
c. An obstacle behind a target for stopping the shot.
3. An embankment or hollow used as a blind by hunters of wildfowl.
4. a. Archaic A goal.
b. Obsolete A bound; a limit.
[Middle English butte, target, from Old French, from but, goal, end, target; see butt4.]
butt 4
(bŭt)n.1. The larger or thicker end of an object: the butt of a rifle.
2. a. An unburned end, as of a cigarette.
b. Informal A cigarette.
3. A short or broken remnant; a stub.
4. Informal The buttocks; the rear end.
adv. Slang Very. Used as an intensive: butt ugly; butt expensive.
[Middle English butte, from Old French but, end, of Germanic origin.]
butt 5
(bŭt)n.1. A large cask.
2. A unit of volume equal to two hogsheads, usually the equivalent of 126 US gallons (about 477 liters).
[Middle English, from Old French boute, from Late Latin *buttia, variant of buttis.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.