buttress : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: buttress	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for buttress
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
buttress n a support usually of stone or brick; supports the wall of a building Synonym(s): buttress, buttressing v reinforce with a buttress; "Buttress the church" make stronger or defensible; "buttress your thesis"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Buttress \But"tress\, n. [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.) 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. [bd]The ground pillar and buttress of the good old cause of nonconformity.[b8] --South. {Flying buttress}. See {Flying buttress}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Buttress \But"tress\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Buttressed} ([?]); p. pr. & vb. n. {Buttressing}.] 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.