butt
butt Lexical Profile
butt Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The buttocks or rear end of a person or animal (informal).
"He slipped on the icy sidewalk and landed squarely on his butt."
The thicker, heavier, or blunt end of a tool, weapon, or other object, or the unburned stub left after smoking a cigarette or cigar.
"Volunteers walked along the beach collecting plastic bottles and discarded cigarette butts."
An object or person that serves as the target of ridicule, jokes, or criticism.
"Despite his good intentions, his clumsy mistakes often made him the butt of office jokes."
A push or blow delivered with the head or horns.
"The mountain goat gave the intruder a sharp butt with its horns."
A large cask or barrel used for storing liquids such as wine, ale, or rainwater.
"The gardener placed a wooden water butt beneath the drainpipe to collect rainwater for the plants."
• verb
To strike, push, or thrust against someone or something with the head or horns.
"The young calf eagerly butted against its mother's side while nursing."
To adjoin or be placed squarely end to end against another object or surface.
"The carpenter made sure the two oak planks butted tightly together before securing them."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse with the homophone 'but' (a conjunction and preposition). In the anatomical sense, 'butt' is strictly informal and colloquial, whereas 'buttocks' is used in formal or medical contexts.
• Rhymes for butt
Word Origin & Etymology
The word represents a convergence of several distinct medieval roots: the sense of a thick end or buttocks comes from Middle English butt, related to Middle Dutch bot ('stumpy, blunt'); the sense of striking with the head comes from Old French boter ('to push, strike'); and the sense of a large cask comes from Late Latin buttis.