butt into

Variant of butt

noun

  1. the thick end of anything, as of a whip handle, rifle stock, etc.
  2. the remaining end of anything; stub; stump; specif., the stub of a smoked cigarette or cigar
    1. Origin: ? infl. by Fr butte, mound < OFr buter

      a mound of earth, bales of straw, etc. behind a target, for receiving fired rounds or shot arrows
    2. a target
    3. a target range
  3. a hole in the ground used as a blind by hunters of fowl
  4. an object of ridicule or criticism
  5. Slang a cigarette
  6. Informal the buttocks
  7. Obsolete
    1. a limit
    2. a goal
  8. Tanning the part of a hide or pelt that covered the animal's backside

Origin: < several bases, variously confused in E or Fr: ME but, butte, thick end, ? akin to ON būtr, block of wood, Du bot, stumpy, stocky, or ? < OFr bout, end < buter (see butt); ME but, target, boundary < MFr bout, aim, goal, < abuter, to aim < à, at (< L ad) + but, goal (< ?)

transitive verb, intransitive verb

to join end to end
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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