Category:Buttress

But"tress, n. Etym: [OE. butrasse, boterace, fr. F. bouter to push; cf. OF. bouteret (nom. sing. and acc. pl. bouterez) buttress. See Butt an end, and cf. Butteris.]

1. (Arch.)

Defn: A projecting mass of masonry, used for resisting the thrust of an arch, or for ornament and symmetry.

Note: When an external projection is used merely to stiffen a wall, it is a pier.

2. Anything which supports or strengthens. "The ground pillar and buttress of the good old cause of nonconformity." South. Flying buttress. See Flying buttress.

Buttress But"tress, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buttressed (p. pr. & vb. n. Buttressing.]

Defn: To support with a buttress; to prop; to brace firmly. To set it upright again, and to prop and buttress it up for duration. Burke.