Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Bŭt, prep. & conj. p. 178Except; besides; unless; save. Who can it be but perjured Lycon? Smith. So insolent that he could not go, but either spurning equals or trampling on his inferiors. Fuller. ☞ In this sense, but is…Bŭt, n. p. 178See Butt.Būt, v. i. p. 178See BUTT and ABUT.Butch'er, n. p. 178One who slaughters animals, or dresses their flesh for market; one whose occupation is to kill animals for food. 2. A slaughterer; one who kills in a bloody manner; one given to slaughter. “Butcher…Butch'er, v. t. p. 178To kill or slaughter, as animals, for food, or for market. 2. To murder, especially in an unusually bloody or barbarous manner. Ithocles Was murdered, rather butchered. Ford.Butch'er-bird, n. p. 178(Ornith.) A bird of different species of the family Lanius. ☞ The Lanius excubitor is the common butcher-bird of Europe. Among the American species there are the L. septentrionalis, or northern…Butch'er-ing, n. p. 178The act of slaughtering; the act of killing with cruelty and blood. That dreadful butchering of one another. Addison. 2. The business or employment of a butcher.Butch'er-li-ness, n. p. 179A cruel, savage, butcherly manner. Johnson.Butch'er-ly, a. p. 179Grossly cruel and barbarous; bloody; murderous. “The victim of a butcherly murder.” D. Webster. What stratagems, how fell, how butcherly, This deadly quarrel daily doth beget! Shak.Butch'er-mēat or Butch'er's-mēat, n. p. 179The flesh of animals slaughtered for the table, as distinguished from game or other animal food.Butch'er-rōw, n. p. 179A row of shambles. Whitlock.Butch'er's-bro͞om, n. p. 179(Bot.) A plant, the Ruscus aculeatus, of the Smilax family, called also knee-holly, used by butchers for brooms to sweep their blocks.Butch'er-y, n. p. 179The business of a butcher. 2. Murder, especially murder committed with unusual barbarity; great slaughter. “The perpetration of human butchery.” Prescott. Can he a son to soft remorse incite, Whom…Bŭt'-ĕnd or Bŭtt'-ĕnd, n. p. 179The largest or blunt end of a thing; as, the but-end of a musket, or of a piece of timber.But'ler, n. p. 179A servant or officer in a household, whose principal business is to take charge of the liquors, plate, &c. Fie, daughter! when my old wife lived, upon This day, she was both pantler, butler, cook.…Bŭt'ler-ağe, n. p. 179(Old Eng. Law.) A duty of two shillings on every tun of wine imported into England by foreigners or merchant strangers;—so called because originally paid to the king’s butler for the king. Blackstone.Bŭt'ler-ship, n. p. 179The office of a butler. Gen. xl. 21.Bŭt'ment, n. p. 179(Arch.) A buttress of an arch; the supporter, or that part which joins it to the upright pier. 2. (Masonry.) (a.) The mass of stone or solid work at the end of a bridge, by which the extreme arches…Bŭt'ment-cheek, n. p. 179(Carp.) One of the two solid parts on each side of a mortise.Bŭtt or Bŭt, n. p. 179The larger end of a thing, as of a piece of timber, or of a fallen tree; an end; a limit; a bound. Here is my journey’s end, here is my butt And very sea-mark of my utmost sail. Shak. As applied to…Bŭtt or Būt, v. i. p. 179To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to terminate; to be bounded; to abut. And Barnsdale there doth butt on Don's well-watered ground. Drayton. 2. To thrust the head forward; to strike by…Bŭtt, v. t. p. 179To strike by thrusting the head against, as a ram; to strike with the head. Two harmless lambs are butting one the other. Wotton.Bütte, n. p. 179An isolated peak or abrupt elevation of land in the central and western parts of North America, too high to be called a hill or ridge, and not high enough to be called a mountain. The creek . . .…Büt'ter, n. p. 179An oily, unctuous substance obtained from cream or milk by churning. 2. Any substance resembling butter in degree of consistence, or other qualities, especially, in old chemistry, the chlorides, as…Bŭt'ter, v. t. p. 179To cover or spread with butter. I know what's what. I know on which side My bread is buttered. Ford. 2. To increase, as stakes, at every throw or every game. [Cant.] Johnson.Bŭt'ter-and-ěggs, n. p. 179(Bot.) A plant of the genus Narcissus (N. incomparabilis). Loudon.Bŭt'ter-bird, n. p. 179The rice-bunting or bobolink; — so called in Jamaica.Bŭt'ter-bŭmp, n. p. 179The bittern. Johnson.Bŭt'ter-bŭr, n. p. 179(Bot.) A plant of the genus Tussilago, or coltsfoot. The common butter-bur is T. petasites, also the common Linaria (L. vulgaris), growing in wet lands, and having the largest leaves of any British…Bŭt'ter-cŭp, n. p. 179(Bot.) A plant of the genus Ranunculus, or crowfoot, particularly R. bulbosa, with bright yellow flowers;—called also golden-cup and king's-cup; the cuckoo-bud of Shakespeare. London.Bŭt'ter-flow'er, n. p. 179A yellow flower; the buttercup.Bŭt'ter-fly, n. p. 179(Entom.) An insect of different species of the order Lepidoptera, and especially of the family Papilio. SeeBŭt'ter-fly-shell, n. p. 179(Conch.) A shell of the genus Voluta.Bŭt'ter-fly-vălve, n. p. 179(Mech.) A species of double clock-valve, consisting of two semicircular clappers or wings hinged to a cross-rib cast in the pump-bucket, and so named from its resemblance to a butterfly when open.Bŭt'ter-is, n. p. 179(Far.) An instrument of steel set in a wooden handle, used for paring the hoof of a horse.Bŭt'ter-milk, n. p. 179The milk that remains after the butter is separated from it.Bŭt'ter-nŭt, n. p. 179(Bot.) An American tree (the Juglans cinerea) and its fruit, so called from the oil contained in the latter; — sometimes called oil-nut and white walnut. 2. The nut of the Caryocar butyraceum and C.…Bŭt′ter-prĭnt or Bŭt′ter-stămp, n. p. 179A piece of carved wood used to mark cakes of butter.Bŭt'ter-tōōth, n. p. 179A broad fore-tooth. Johnson.Bŭt'ter-tree, n. p. 179(Bot.) A tree of the genus Bassia, the seeds of which yield a substance very closely resembling butter. ☞ The butter-tree of India is the B. butyracea; that of Africa is the Shea tree, described by…Bŭt'ter-wife or Bŭt'ter-wom'an, n. p. 179A woman who makes or sells butter. Johnson.Bŭt'ter-wort, n. p. 179(Bot.) A plant of the genus Pinguicula (P. vulgaris), of the Bladderwort family, growing on bogs or soft grounds, having leaves covered with soft prickles, which secrete a glutinous liquor.Bŭt'ter-y, a. p. 179Having the qualities, consistence, or appearance, of butter.Bŭt'ter-y, n. p. 179An apartment in a house where butter, milk, provisions, and utensils are kept. All that need a cool and fresh temper, as cellars, pantries, and butteries, to the north. Wotton. 2. A room in some…Bŭtt'-hĭnge, n. p. 179See BUTT.Bŭt'ting, n. p. 179An abuttal; a boundary. Without buttings or boundings on any side. Bp. Beveridge.Bŭtt'-joint or Bŭt'ting-joint, n. p. 179(Carp.) A joint between two pieces of timber or wood, at the end of one or both, and either at right angles or oblique to the grain, as the joints which the struts and braces form with the…Bŭt'tock, n. p. 179The rump, or protuberant part of the body behind. 2. (Naut.) The convexity of a ship behind, under the stern. Mar. Dict.Bŭt'ton, n. p. 179A knob; a small ball; a small, round mass. 2. A catch, of various forms and materials, used to fasten together the different parts of dress, by being attached to one part, and passing through a slit…Bŭt'ton, v. t. p. 179To fasten with a button or buttons; to inclose or make secure with buttons;—often followed by up. He was a tall, fat, long-bodied man, buttoned up to the throat in a tight green coat. Dickens. 2. To…Bŭt'ton, v. i. p. 179To be fastened by a button or buttons; as, the coat will not button.Bŭt'ton-bush, n. p. 179(Bot.) A shrub, the Cephalanthus occidentalis, growing by the water-side;—so called from its globular head of flowers.Bŭt'ton-hōle, n. p. 179The loop or hole in which a button is caught.Bŭt'ton-hōle, v. t. p. 179To hold by the button or button-hole; to detain in conversation to weariness; to bore; as, he button-holed me a full hour.Bŭt'ton-mōld or Bŭt'ton-mōuld, n. p. 179A disk of bone, wood, or other material, which is made into a button by covering it, as with silk or with cloth of some kind. Fossil button-molds, joints of encrinites. See ENCRINITE.Bŭt'ton-tree, n. p. 179(Bot.) The Conocarpus, a genus of plants, natives of the West Indies.Bŭt'ton-weed, n. p. 179(Bot.) A plant, of different species, of the genera Spermacoce and Diodia, of the Cinchona family.Bŭt'ton-wood, n. p. 179(Bot.) The Platanus Occidentalis, Western plane-tree, a large tree growing in North America, producing rough balls, from which it is named;—called also button-ball tree. Michaux.Bŭt'tress, n. p. 179(Arch.) A projecting support to the exterior of a wall, most commonly applied to churches in the Gothic style, but also to other buildings, and sometimes to mere walls; a prop; a support.Bŭt'tress, v. t. p. 179To support by a buttress; to prop. To set it upright again, and to prop and buttress it up for duration. Burke.