buttress
verb/ˈbʌtrəs/
/ˈbʌtrəs/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they buttress | /ˈbʌtrəs/ /ˈbʌtrəs/ |
| he / she / it buttresses | /ˈbʌtrəsɪz/ /ˈbʌtrəsɪz/ |
| past simple buttressed | /ˈbʌtrəst/ /ˈbʌtrəst/ |
| past participle buttressed | /ˈbʌtrəst/ /ˈbʌtrəst/ |
| -ing form buttressing | /ˈbʌtrəsɪŋ/ /ˈbʌtrəsɪŋ/ |
- buttress somebody/something to support or give strength to somebody/something
- The sharp increase in crime seems to buttress the argument for more police officers on the street.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryButtress is used with these nouns as the object:- argument
- buttress something to give physical support to a building or structure
- The galleries were well buttressed by huge timbers.
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French (ars) bouterez ‘thrusting (arch)’, from boter ‘to strike or thrust’, of Germanic origin.
Check pronunciation:
buttress