Butt

Butt

n.
  1. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.
    Here is my journey's end, here my butt And very sea mark of my utmost sail.
  2. The larger or thicker end of anything; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp end; as, the butt of a rifle. Formerly also spelled but. See 2nd but, n. sense 2.
  3. A mark to be shot at; a target.
    The groom his fellow groom at butts defies, And bends his bow, and levels with his eyes.
  4. A person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed; as, the butt of the company.
    I played a sentence or two at my butt, which I thought very smart.
  5. A push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head of an animal; as, the butt of a ram.
  6. A thrust in fencing.
    To prove who gave the fairer butt, John shows the chalk on Robert's coat.
  7. A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.
    The hay was growing upon headlands and butts in cornfields.
    — Burrill.
  8. A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scarfing or chamfering; -- also called butt joint. (Mech.)
  9. The joint where two planks in a strake meet. (Shipbuilding)
  10. A kind of hinge used in hanging doors, etc.; -- so named because fastened on the edge of the door, which butts against the casing, instead of on its face, like the strap hinge; also called butt hinge. (Carp.)
  11. The thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks. (Leather Trade)
  12. The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice.
  13. The buttocks; as, get up off your butt and get to work; -- used as a euphemism, less objectionable than ass. [slang]
    Amen; and make me die a good old man! That's the butt end of a mother's blessing.

Phrases & Compounds
Butt chain
a short chain attached to the end of a tug.
Butt end
The thicker end of anything. See But end, under 2d But.
A butt's length
the ordinary distance from the place of shooting to the butt, or mark.
Butts and bounds
abuttals and boundaries. In lands of the ordinary rectangular shape, butts are the lines at the ends (F. bouts), and bounds are those on the sides, or sidings, as they were formerly termed.
Bead and butt
See under Bead.
Butt and butt
joining end to end without overlapping, as planks.
Butt weld
a butt joint, made by welding together the flat ends, or edges, of a piece of iron or steel, or of separate pieces, without having them overlap. See Weld.
Full butt
headfirst with full force.

Butt

v. i.

imp. & p. p. Butted; p. pr. & vb. n. Butting

  1. To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut.
    And Barnsdale there doth butt on Don's well-watered ground.
  2. To thrust the head forward; to strike by thrusting the head forward, as an ox or a ram. [See Butt, n.]
    A snow-white steer before thine altar led, Butts with his threatening brows.

Butt

v. t.
  1. To strike by thrusting the head against; to strike with the head.
    Two harmless lambs are butting one the other.

Butt

n.
  1. A large cask or vessel for wine or beer. It contains two hogsheads.

Butt

n.
  1. The common English flounder. (Zool.)