buttress
/ˈbʌtɹɪs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.67 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
noun
A feature jutting prominently out from a mountain or rock.
noun
Anything that supports or strengthens.
verb
To support something physically with, or as if with, a prop or buttress.
Example Sentences
- "It was decided, therefore, to build eight concrete buttresses from the new strengthening work to safeguard the general stability of the wall along the length where the greatest movement had taken place."
- "Crowell Buttresses, Dismal Buttress"
- "All that day they rode into broken land. The prairie with its grass and rolling hills was behind them, and they entered a sparse, dry, rocky country, full of draws and short cañons and ominous buttresses."
- "Two short pitches up a chimney-crack are followed by a traverse right to the centre of the buttress."
- "the grand pillar and buttress of the good old cause of nonconformity"
- "Buttressed by elaborate account statements and a deep reservoir of trust from his investors and regulators, Mr. Madoff steered his fraud scheme safely through a severe recession in the early 1990s, a global financial crisis in 1998 and the anxious aftermath of the terrorist attacks in September 2001."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbʌtɹɪs/
- British English: /ˈbʌtɹəs/