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But} (), n.[F. but butt, aim (cf. butte knoll), or bout, OF. bot, end, extremity, fr. boter, buter, to push, butt, strike, F. bouter; of German origin; cf. OHG. bzan, akin to E. beat. See Beat, v. t.] 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. Shak. As applied to land, the word is nearly synonymous with mete, and signifies properly the end line or boundary; the abuttal. 2. The thicker end of anything. See But. 3. A mark to be shot at; a target. Sir W. Scott. The groom his fellow groom at butts defies, And bends his bow, and levels with his eyes. Dryden. 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. Addison. 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 R Butt v. i.[imp. & p. p.Butted; p. pr. & vb. n.Butting.] [OE. butten, OF. boter to push, F. bouter. See Butt an end, and cf. Boutade.] 1. To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut. [Written also but.] And Barnsdale there doth butt on Don's well-watered ground. Drayton. 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. Dryden. Butt v. t.To strike by thrusting the head against; to strike with the head. Two harmless lambs are butting one the other. Sir H. Wotton. Butt n.[F. botte, boute, LL. butta. Cf. Bottle a hollow vessel.] A large cask or vessel for wine or beer. It contains two hogsheads. A wine butt contains 126 wine gallons (= 105 imperial gallons, nearly); a beer butt 108 ale gallons (= about 110 imperial gallons). Butt n.(Zol.) The common English flounder. スポンサード リンク
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