BUTTRESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does buttress mean? 

• BUTTRESS (noun)
  The noun BUTTRESS has 1 sense:

1. a support usually of stone or brick; supports the wall of a building

  Familiarity information: BUTTRESS used as a noun is very rare.

• BUTTRESS (verb)
  The verb BUTTRESS has 2 senses:

1. reinforce with a buttress

2. make stronger or defensible

  Familiarity information: BUTTRESS used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BUTTRESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A support usually of stone or brick; supports the wall of a building

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

buttress; buttressing

Hypernyms ("buttress" is a kind of...):

support (supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "buttress"):

arc-boutant; flying buttress (a buttress that stands apart from the main structure and connected to it by an arch)

Derivation:

buttress (reinforce with a buttress)

• BUTTRESS (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they buttress    ... he / she / it buttresses   
Past simple: buttressed   
Past participle: buttressed   
-ing form: buttressing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reinforce with a buttress

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Buttress the church

Hypernyms (to "buttress" is one way to...):

reenforce; reinforce (make stronger)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

buttress (a support usually of stone or brick; supports the wall of a building)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make stronger or defensible

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

buttress your thesis

Hypernyms (to "buttress" is one way to...):

beef up; fortify; strengthen (make strong or stronger)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

I think I was glad to know it; I think I was glad to have my better impulses thus buttressed and guarded by the terrors of the scaffold.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Ruth's mind was quick, and her disapproval of her lover's views was buttressed by the contradiction she found in his contention.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"It is vital to understand the causes of ice-shelf instability because ice shelves buttress against the discharge of inland ice and therefore influence ice-sheet contributions to sea level rise."

(Reframing the dangers Antarctica's meltwater ponds pose to ice shelves and sea level, National Science Foundation)

Its land boundary is buttressed by massive, floating ice shelves extending hundreds of miles out over the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean.

(Antarctic ice cliffs may not contribute to ice-sheet instability as much as predicted, National Science Foundation)

The tall man leaned heavily upon her to take the weight off his tender foot, while he held his burden betwixt himself and the wall, cuddling it jealously to his side, and thrusting forward his young companion to act as a buttress whenever the pressure of the crowd threatened to bear him away.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)