butting
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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.
Phrasal Verbs: A push or blow with the head or horns.
butt in
1. 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.
[Middle English butten, from Old French bouter, to strike, of Germanic origin; see bhau- in Indo-European roots.]
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.