butt3

 
Pronunciation: /bʌt/

noun

  • 1 (also butt end) the thicker end of something, especially a tool or a weapon: a rifle butt
  • the square end of a plank or plate meeting the end or side of another, as in the side of a ship: [as modifier]: a butt joint
  • the thicker or hind end of a hide used for leather.
  • 2 (also butt end) the stub of a cigar or a cigarette.
  • 3 informal, chiefly North American a person’s buttocks or anus: I was being paid to sit on my butt and watch television
  • 4the trunk of a tree, especially the part just above the ground.

verb

[no object]
  • adjoin or meet end to end: the shop butted up against the row of houses
  • [with object] join (pieces of stone, timber, and other building materials) with the ends or sides flat against each other.

Origin:

late Middle English: the noun apparently related to Dutch bot 'stumpy', also to buttock; the verb partly from butt2, reinforced by abut