buttress Hear it!

buttress definition

but·tress (bu′tris)

noun

  1. a projecting structure, generally of brick or stone, built against a wall to support or reinforce it
  2. anything like a buttress; support or prop

Etymology: ME boteras < OFr bouterez, pl. of bouteret, flying buttress < buter: see butt

transitive verb

  1. to support or reinforce with a buttress
  2. to prop up; bolster

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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