Butt

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English

Noun

butt (plural butts)

1. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.

   Quotations

   • 1604: Here is my journey's end, here is my butt And very sea-mark of my utmost sail. — William Shakespeare, Othello, Act V, Scene II, line 267.

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.
3. A mark to be shot at; a target.

   Quotations

   • 1598: To which is fixed, as an aim or butt... — William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act I, Scene II, line 186.
   • 1786: The inhabitants of all cities and towns were ordered to make butts, and to keep them in repair, under a penalty of twenty shillings per month, and to exercise themselves in shooting at them on holidays. — Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 37.

4. A person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed; as, the butt of the company.
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.
7. A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.
8. (Mechanical) A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scarfing or chamfering; -- also called butt joint.
9. The end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and gib.
10. The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of a hose.
11. (Shipbuilding) The joint where two planks in a strake meet.
12. (Carpentry) 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.
13. (Leather Trade) The thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks.
14. The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice.
15. (Slang) The buttocks; as, get up off your butt and get to work; -- used as a euphemism, less objectionable than ass.
16. (English units) An English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 126 wine gallons; equivalent to the pipe.

    Quotations

    • 1882: Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt 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. — James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, p. 205.

17. A wooden cask for storing wine, usually containing 126 gallons.

    Quotations

    • 1611: ...I escap'd upon a butt of sack which the sailors heav'd o'erboard... — William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II, Scene II, line 121.