\Butt\, But \But\, n. [F. but butt, aim (cf. butte knoll),
or bout, OF. bot, end, extremity, fr. boter, buter, to push,
butt, strike, F. bouter; of German origin; cf. OHG. b[=o]zan,
akin to E. beat. See {Beat}, v. t.]
1. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.
         Here is my journey's end, here my butt And very sea
         mark of my utmost sail.               --Shak.
Note: As applied to land, the word is nearly synonymous with
      mete, and signifies properly the end line or boundary;
      the abuttal.
2. The thicker end of anything. See {But}.
3. A mark to be shot at; a target. --Sir W. Scott.
         The groom his fellow groom at butts defies, And
         bends his bow, and levels with his eyes. --Dryden.
4. A person at whom ridicule, jest, or contempt is directed;
   as, the butt of the company.
         I played a sentence or two at my butt, which I
         thought very smart.                   --Addison.
5. A push, thrust, or sudden blow, given by the head of an
   animal; as, the butt of a ram.
6. A thrust in fencing.
         To prove who gave the fairer butt, John shows the
         chalk on Robert's coat.               --Prior.
7. A piece of land left unplowed at the end of a field.
         The hay was growing upon headlands and butts in
         cornfields.                           --Burrill.
8. (Mech.)
   (a) A joint where the ends of two objects come squarely
       together without scarfing or chamfering; -- also
       called {butt joint}.
   (b) The end of a connecting rod or other like piece, to
       which the boxing is attached by the strap, cotter, and
       gib.
   (c) The portion of a half-coupling fastened to the end of
       a hose.
9. (Shipbuilding) The joint where two planks in a strake
   meet.
10. (Carp.) 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}.
11. (Leather Trade) The thickest and stoutest part of tanned
    oxhides, used for soles of boots, harness, trunks.
12. The hut or shelter of the person who attends to the
    targets in rifle practice.
{Butt chain} (Saddlery), a short chain attached to the end of
   a tug.
{Butt end}. The thicker end of anything. See {But end}, under
   2d {But}.
         Amen; and make me die a good old man! That's the
         butt end of a mother's blessing.      --Shak.
{A butt's length}, the ordinary distance from the place of
   shooting to the butt, or mark.
{Butts and bounds} (Conveyancing), abuttals and boundaries.
   In lands of the ordinary rectangular shape, butts are the
   lines at the ends (F. bouts), and bounds are those on the
   sides, or sidings, as they were formerly termed.
   --Burrill.
{Bead and butt}. See under {Bead}.
{Butt and butt}, joining end to end without overlapping, as
   planks.
{Butt weld} (Mech.), a butt joint, made by welding together
   the flat ends, or edges, of a piece of iron or steel, or
   of separate pieces, without having them overlap. See
   {Weld}.
{Full butt}, headfirst with full force. [Colloq.] ``The
   corporal . . . ran full butt at the lieutenant.''
   --Marryat.

\Butt\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Butted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Butting}.] [OE. butten, OF. boter to push, F. bouter. See
{Butt} an end, and cf. {Boutade}.]
1. To join at the butt, end, or outward extremity; to
   terminate; to be bounded; to abut. [Written also {but}.]
         And Barnsdale there doth butt on Don's well-watered
         ground.                               --Drayton.
2. To thrust the head forward; to strike by thrusting the
   head forward, as an ox or a ram. [See {Butt}, n.]
         A snow-white steer before thine altar led, Butts
         with his threatening brows.           --Dryden.

\Butt\, v. t.
To strike by thrusting the head against; to strike with the
head.
      Two harmless lambs are butting one the other. --Sir H.
                                               Wotton.

\Butt\, n. [F. botte, boute, LL. butta. Cf. {Bottle} a
hollow vessel.]
A large cask or vessel for wine or beer. It contains two
hogsheads.
Note: A wine butt contains 126 wine gallons (= 105 imperial
      gallons, nearly); a beer butt 108 ale gallons (= about
      110 imperial gallons).

\Butt\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
The common English flounder.