noun a limit; a boundary.
2. but ·vt a thrust in fencing.
3. but ·vi ·see butt, ·v, and abut, ·v.
4. but ·vt a mark to be shot at; a target.
5. but ·adv & ·conj only; solely; merely.
6. but ·adv & ·conj except; besides; save.
7. but ·vt the thicker end of anything. ·see but.
8. but ·vt the joint where two planks in a strake meet.
9. but ·vt a piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.
10. but ·adv & ·conj except with; unless with; without.
11. but ·vt a limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.
12. but ·vt the portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of a hose.
13. but ·vt the hut or shelter of the person who attends to the targets in rifle practice.
14. but ·vt a person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed; as, the butt of the company.
15. but ·vt a push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head of an animal; as, the butt of a ram.
xvi. but ·adv & ·conj otherwise than that; that not;
commonly, after a negative, with that.
xvii. but ·vt the thickest and stoutest part of tanned oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks.
xviii. but (·prep, ·adv & ·conj) the outer apartment or kitchen of a two-roomed house;
opposed to ben, the inner room.
xix. but ·noun the end; ·esp. the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end. ·see 1st butt.
xx. but ·vt the end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and gib.
xxi. but ·vt a joint where the ends of two objects come squarely together without scarfing or chamfering;
also called butt joint.
xxii. but ·adv & ·conj excepting or excluding the fact that; save that; were it not that; unless;
elliptical, for but that.
xxiii. but ·vt 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.
xxiv. but ·adv & ·conj on the contrary; on the other hand; only; yet; still; however; nevertheless; more; further;
as connective of sentences or clauses of a sentence, in a sense more or less exceptive or adversative; as, the house of representatives passed the bill, but the senate dissented; our wants are many, but quite of another kind.