Definition of BUTTRESS

buttress

Meanings

Plural: buttresses

Noun

  • a support usually of stone or brick; supports the wall of a building
  • A brick, concrete or stone structure built against another structure to support it.
  • Anything that serves to support something; a prop.
  • A buttress-root.
  • A feature jutting prominently out from a mountain or rock.
  • Anything that supports or strengthens.

Verb

  • reinforce with a buttress
    • "Buttress the church"
  • make stronger or defensible
    • "buttress your thesis"
  • To support something physically with, or as if with, a prop or buttress.
  • To support something or someone by supplying evidence.

Origin / Etymology

From Old French ars bouterez (noun, literally “supporting arcs”), from bouterez (adjective), oblique plural of bouteret (rare in the singular), from Frankish *bôtan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push”). Ultimately cognate with beat.

Scrabble Score: 10

buttress is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
buttress is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
buttress is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 12

buttress is a valid Words With Friends word