What is "butt"

Butt \Butt\, But \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. b[=o]zan, 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.

   Note: As applied to land, the word is nearly synonymous with mete, and signifies properly the end line or boundary; the abuttal.

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. See 2nd but, n. sense 2.

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 Robert's coat.
   --Prior.

7. A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.

   The hay was growing upon headlands and butts in cornfields.
   --Burrill.

8. (Mech.)

   1. A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scarfing or chamfering; -- also called butt joint.

   2. The end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and gib.

   3. The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of a hose.

9. (Shipbuilding) The joint where two planks in a strake meet.

10. (Carp.) 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.

11. (Leather Trade) The thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks.

12. The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice.

13. The buttocks; as, get up off your butt and get to work; -- used as a euphemism, less objectionable than ass.

    Syn: ass, rear end, derriere, behind, rump, heinie.

    Butt chain (Saddlery), a short chain attached to the end of a tug.

    Butt end. The thicker end of anything. See But end, under 2d But.

    Amen; and make me die a good old man! That's the butt end of a mother's blessing.
    --Shak.

    A butt's length, the ordinary distance from the place of shooting to the butt, or mark.

    Butts and bounds (Conveyancing), abuttals and boundaries. In lands of the ordinary rectangular shape, butts are the lines at the ends (F. bouts), and bounds are those on the sides, or sidings, as they were formerly termed.
    --Burrill.

    Bead and butt. See under Bead.

    Butt and butt, joining end to end without overlapping, as planks.

    Butt weld (Mech.), a butt joint, made by welding together the flat ends, or edges, of a piece of iron or steel, or of separate pieces, without having them overlap. See Weld.

    Full butt, headfirst with full force. [Colloq.] ``The corporal . . . ran full butt at the lieutenant.''
    --Marryat.

Butt \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 \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 \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.

Note: A wine butt contains 126 wine gallons (= 105 imperial gallons, nearly); a beer butt 108 ale gallons (= about 110 imperial gallons).

Butt \Butt\, n. (Zo["o]l.) The common English flounder. [1913 Webster] ||

"thick end," c.1400, butte, which probably is related to Middle Dutch and Dutch bot, Low German butt "blunt, dull," Old Norse bauta (see beat (v.)). Or related somehow to Old English buttuc "end, small piece of land," and Old Norse butr "short." In sense of "human posterior" it is recorded from mid-15c. Meaning "remainder of a smoked cigarette" first recorded 1847.

"liquor barrel," late 14c., from Anglo-French but and Old French bot "barrel, wineskin" (14c., Modern French botte), from Late Latin buttis "cask" (see bottle (n.)). Cognate with Spanish and Portuguese bota, Italian botte. Usually a cask holding 108 to 140 gallons, or roughly two hogsheads, but the measure varied greatly.

"target of a joke," 1610s, originally "target for shooting practice" (mid-14c.), from Old French but "aim, goal, end, target (of an arrow, etc.)," 13c., which seems to be a fusion of Old French words for "end" (bout) and "aim, goal" (but), both ultimately from Germanic. The latter is from Frankish *but "stump, stock, block," or some other Germanic source (compare Old Norse butr "log of wood"), which would connect it with butt (n.1).

"hit with the head," c.1200, from Anglo-French buter, from Old French boter "to push, shove, knock; to thrust against," from Frankish or another Germanic source (compare Old Norse bauta, Low German boten "to strike, beat"), from Proto-Germanic *butan, from PIE root *bhau- "to strike" (see batter (v.)). Related: Butted; butting. To butt in "rudely intrude" is American English, attested from 1900.

"flat fish," c.1300, a general Germanic name applied to various kinds of flat fishes; compare Old Swedish but "flatfish," German Butte, Dutch bot, perhaps ultimately related to butt (n.1). "Hence butt-woman, who sells these, a fish-wife." [OED]

Etymology 1 n. 1 (context slang English) The buttocks (qualifier: used as a euphemism in idiomatic expressions; less objectionable than arse/ass). 2 (context slang English) The whole buttocks and pelvic region that includes one's private parts. 3 (senseid en body,self)(context slang pejorative English) Body; self. 4 (context slang English) A used cigarette. 5 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. 6 A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end. 7 A mark to be shot at; a target. 8 A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field. 9 A person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed. 10 A push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head; a head butt. 11 A thrust in fencing. 12 (context lacrosse English) The plastic or rubber cap used to cover the open end of a lacrosse stick's shaft in order to reduce injury. 13 The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of a hose. 14 The end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and gib. 15 (context mechanical English) A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scarfing or chamfering; – also called a butt joint. 16 (context carpentry English) A kind of hinge used in hanging doors, etc., so named because it is attached to the inside edge of the door and butts against the casing, instead of on its face, like the strap hinge; also called butt hinge. 17 (context shipbuilding English) The joint where two planks in a strake meet. 18 (context leather trades English) The thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks. 19 The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice. 20 (context English units English) An English measure of capacity for liquids, containing 126 wine gallons which is one-half tun; equivalent to the pipe. 21 A wooden cask for storing wine, usually containing 126 gallons. 22 Any of various flatfish such as sole, plaice or turbot 23 (context obsolete West of England English) hassock. Etymology 2

vb. 1 To strike bluntly, particularly with the head. 2 To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut.

1. v. lie adjacent to another or share a boundary; "Canada adjoins the U.S."; "England marches with Scotland" [syn: border, adjoin, edge, abut, march, butt against, butt on]

2. to strike, thrust or shove against, often with head or horns; "He butted his sister out of the way" [syn: bunt]

3. place end to end without overlapping; "The frames must be butted at the joints"

1. n. thick end of the handle [syn: butt end]

2. a victim of ridicule or pranks [syn: goat, laughingstock, stooge]

3. the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on; "he deserves a good kick in the butt"; "are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?" [syn: buttocks, nates, arse, backside, bum, buns, can, fundament, hindquarters, hind end, keister, posterior, prat, rear, rear end, rump, stern, seat, tail, tail end, tooshie, tush, bottom, behind, derriere, fanny, ass]

4. sports equipment consisting of an object set up for a marksman or archer to aim at [syn: target]

5. finely ground tobacco wrapped in paper; for smoking [syn: cigarette, cigaret, coffin nail, fag]

6. a joint made by fastening ends together without overlapping [syn: butt joint]

7. a large cask (especially one holding a volume equivalent to 2 hogsheads or 126 gallons)

8. the small unused part of something (especially the end of a cigarette that is left after smoking) [syn: stub]

Butt may refer to:

• Figurative or literal blunt ends:
  • Butt joint, a woodworking joinery technique
  • Butt splice connector, a type of crimp electrical connector
  • Buttstock or butt, the back part of a rifle or other firearm
  • Headbutt or butt, (implicitly blunt) blow administered with the head
  • Buttocks
  • Cigarette butt
  • Boston butt or pork butt, a shoulder cut of pork
• Metonym for cigarette
• Measurement and storage of liquids:
  • Butt (unit), a measure of volume
  • Butt, an English wine cask size
  • "Water Butt" a rainwater tank
• Butt (archery), practice target
• Surnames:
  • Butt (name)
  • Bhat, a surname in India and Pakistan, also spelled as Butt
• Titled works:
  • Butt (magazine)
  • The Butt, a 2008 novel by Will Self
  • Der Butt, German title of '' The Flounder (1977), Günter Grass novel
  • "Butt Butt", a song by Monrose from Temptation

The butt was a measure of liquid volume equalling two hogsheads. This equated to for ale or for wine (also known as a pipe), although the Oxford English Dictionary notes that "these standards were not always precisely adhered to".

The butt is one in a series of English wine cask units, being half of a tun.

It has also been asserted that a butt was used as a unit of volume for dry measure in the United Kingdom, equivalent to .

Butt is a German and an English surname whose origins lie in the South West peninsula region of England.

BUTT is a quarterly magazine for gay men, founded in 2001 and edited by Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom. , it had an estimated worldwide circulation of 24,000.

The magazine, originating in the Netherlands, features interviews, articles, and advertisements and illuminates upon trends and lifestyles within the male homosexual community.

The magazine has published photography and interviews with renowned gay artists, and became well-known with its very first issue, which showed German fashion designer Bernhard Willhelm in nude portraits taken by Wolfgang Tillmans. Since its first issue in May 2001, BUTT has featured international gay artists such as Casey Spooner, Michael Stipe, John Waters, Heinz Peter Knes, Edmund White, Terence Koh, Walter Pfeiffer, and Slava Mogutin.

Submissions are unrestricted, as readers may send in interviews, letters, photographs, or articles. Subscribers are referred to as "BUTTHEADs" and may join the BUTTHEAD community officially through the magazine's website.

The magazine can be found worldwide. In the United States and the United Kingdom, it is available in American Apparel stores, among other places.

BUTT has been praised for its unabashed sexual and non-sexual portrayals of men, which emphasize equal opportunity in depictions of all peoples in print. In addition, the magazine has been lauded even by women for its unique, candid approach to interviews, which may be done by anyone.