Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A soft yellowish or whitish emulsion of butterfat, water, air, and sometimes salt, churned from milk or cream and processed for use in cooking and as a food.
  • noun Any of various substances similar to butter, especially.
  • noun A spread made from fruit, nuts, or other foods.
  • noun A vegetable fat having a nearly solid consistency at ordinary temperatures.
  • noun Flattery.
  • transitive verb To put butter on or in.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An obsolete form of bittern. Compare butterbump.
  • To smear with butter.
  • To flatter grossly: as, he buttered him to his heart's content.
  • In gambling slang, to stake the previous winnings, with addition, at every throw or every game.
  • In cricket, to fail to make a simple and easy catch; to muff.
  • noun One who or that which butts; an animal that butts.
  • noun One who has charge of a butt or fire-bucket. See butt, n., 1.
  • noun A machine for sawing off the ends of boards, to square them and remove faulty parts.
  • noun The fatty portion of milk.
  • noun In old chemistry, a term applied to certain anhydrous metallic chlorids of buttery consistence and fusibility.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An oily, unctuous substance obtained from cream or milk by churning.
  • noun Any substance resembling butter in degree of consistence, or other qualities, especially, in old chemistry, the chlorides, as butter of antimony, sesquichloride of antimony; also, certain concrete fat oils remaining nearly solid at ordinary temperatures, as butter of cacao, vegetable butter, shea butter.
  • noun a small vessel for holding melted butter at table.
  • noun the buttercup, a yellow flower.
  • noun a piece of carved wood used to mark pats of butter; -- called also butter stamp.
  • noun either of the two middle incisors of the upper jaw.
  • noun (Bot.) a tree of the genus Bassia, the seeds of which yield a substance closely resembling butter. The butter tree of India is the Bassia butyracea; that of Africa is the Shea tree (Bassia Parkii). See Shea tree.
  • noun a tool used in sampling butter.
  • noun [Obs. or Archaic] a woman who makes or sells butter; -- called also butter woman.
  • noun One who, or that which, butts.
  • transitive verb To cover or spread with butter.
  • transitive verb Cant To increase, as stakes, at every throw or every game.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Someone who butts; someone who butts in
  • noun uncountable A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk).
  • noun countable, obsolete, chemistry Any specific soft substance.
  • noun uncountable Any of various foodstuffs made from other foods or oils, similar in consistency to, eaten like or intended as a substitute for butter (preceded by the name of the food used to make it).
  • verb transitive To spread butter on.
  • verb To move one's weight backwards or forwards onto the tips or tails of one's skis or snowboard so only the tip or tail is in contact with the snow.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an edible emulsion of fat globules made by churning milk or cream; for cooking and table use
  • noun a fighter who strikes the opponent with his head
  • verb spread butter on

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English butere, from Old English, from Latin būtȳrum, from Greek boutūron : bous, cow; see gwou- in Indo-European roots + tūros, cheese; see teuə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

butt +‎ -er

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old English butere ("butter"), from West Germanic *buterô (“butter”) (compare West Frisian buter, Dutch boter, German Butter), from Latin būtȳrum, from Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútȳron, "cow cheese"), compound of βοῦς (boûs, "ox, cow") and τῡρός (tyrós, "cheese"), from Scythian (compare Avestan  (tūiri, "curdled milk, whey")), from Proto-Indo-European *tuHrós (compare Middle Indic tūra ("cheese"), Russian творог (tvoróg, "curds, soft cheese"), Old English þweran ("to churn"), ge-þweor ("curds"))

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Examples

  • But it is not so readily digestible as butter is; is more liable to give rise to the butyric acid fermentations in the stomach; is not nearly so appetizing; and its sale as, and under the name of, _butter_ is a fraud which the law rightly forbids and punishes.

    A Handbook of Health Woods Hutchinson 1896

  • Evidently the making of butter was almost totally discontinued, for in his last instructions, completed only a few days before his death, he wrote: "And It is hoped and will be expected, that more effectual measures will be pursued to make butter another year; for it is almost beyond belief, that from 101 Cows actually reported on a late enumeration of the Cattle, that I am obliged to _buy butter_ for the use of my family."

    George Washington: Farmer Paul Leland Haworth

  • Mash lightly, then add in butter and continue to mash potatoes until butter is well incorporated.

    Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes | Baking Bites 2009

  • Whisk in butter and a vanilla paste until butter is melted and custard is smooth.

    Archive 2007-09-01 2007

  • Whisk in butter and a vanilla paste until butter is melted and custard is smooth.

    Boston Cream Cupcakes 2007

  • Hmm ... butter is definitely yum but I don't know about drinking it; P Seriously - these were * drowning* in butter, and I don't mean a thin film.

    True grits | Homesick Texan Homesick Texan 2006

  • If the butter is a little firmer, that will help, too!

    Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake | Baking Bites 2009

  • In the simplest terms, cocoa butter is the fat in chocolate that makes it melt in your mouth and in your hand.

    What is cocoa butter? | Baking Bites 2009

  • Add cold butter and pulse in a food processor (a pastry cutter or a fork will work also) until the butter is the size of small peas.

    Archive 2008-05-01 2008

  • Add cold butter and pulse in a food processor (a pastry cutter or a fork will work also) until the butter is the size of small peas.

    Mini Cinnamon Rolls 2008

Comments

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  • Betty Botta bought some butter,

    "But," said she, "my butter's bitter.

    If I put it in my batter,

    It will make my batter bitter;

    But a better bit of butter

    Will but make my batter better."

    So she bought some better butter,

    Put it in her bitter batter,

    Made her bitter batter better.

    So 'twas better Betta Botta

    Bought a bit of better butter!

    --Tongue Twisters and Tricky Tanglers by Duncan Emrich

    September 11, 2007

  • That's a tough one.

    September 12, 2007

  • Taken at Yorktown, "300 firkins butter." A week or two later, the official report added another "361 firkins butter, (weight) 19,870 lb."

    October 29, 2007

  • formed around the Greek word for cheese - turos bouturon

    September 20, 2008

  • I can believe that, fbh.

    September 20, 2008

  • to cheat or defraud in a smooth or plausible Manner; as, He'll not be Battered; He's aware of your Design, He's upon his Guard,

    May 9, 2009

  • For your consideration: http://m.imgur.com/boUQ0Kw

    November 16, 2013

  • I can't believe it's not Stonehenge.

    November 17, 2013

  • One who butts. Contrast with buttor and butress.

    December 10, 2017