butt
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The larger or thicker end of something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
buhtIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbʌt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
countable
The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end
countable
The waste end of anything.
A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.
us
A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread.
Thick end of the handle
The end of a firearm opposite to that from which a bullet is fired.
verb
To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut.
transitive
To strike bluntly, particularly with the head.
(transitive, intransitive, eastern Canada, parts of the northeastern US) To cut in line (in front of someone).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end
Used this way, butt is a reasonably familiar word that can pull warm or cold depending on the sentence. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.
- Emotional tone
- Mixed
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Direct, sometimes tactless
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Usage note
The same wording can read approvingly or critically, so the surrounding sentence has to make the intent clear.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use butt
- “Be careful in the pen, that ram can knock you down with a butt.”noun
- “Rams butt at other males during mating season.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
An edible emulsion of fat globules made by churning milk or cream.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.