Meaning & use
bute
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountablemedical
A common short name for phenylbutazone, a drug that eases pain and swelling, mostly given to horses.
Grammar: Used without an article for the drug: give the horse bute.
Patterns
- bute for something
- give someone bute
The vet gave the lame horse some bute.
Many owners keep bute in the stable cabinet.
The racing authority restricts the amount of bute a horse can have.
nouncountableslang
A single dose or tablet of this drug, as owners say it.
Grammar: Informal stable talk.
Patterns
- a bute a day
She fed the pony a bute twice a day for the swelling.
The trainer slipped a bute into the feed.
I need to buy a few bute from the vet.
Common combinations
- give bute
- The vet advised us to give bute for three days.
- a dose of bute
- A dose of bute eased the stiffness.
- bute paste
- He squirted bute paste into the horse's mouth.
- on bute
- The horse was on bute for a week.
- bute tablets
- Bute tablets are crushed into feed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- phenylbutazone
- Phenylbutazone is the full drug name and the one used in veterinary records and scientific writing.
- painkiller
- Painkiller is a general term for any drug that relieves pain, not a specific one.
- anti-inflammatory
- Anti-inflammatory names a whole class of drugs, which includes bute.
Word family
- phenylbutazone noun
- the full name of the drug
- NSAID abbreviation
- a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, the group bute belongs to
Commonly confused: bute or Bute? bute or butte?
bute vs Bute
Bute, with a capital, is an island in Scotland and also a place name; the drug is written in lowercase.
bute vs butte
A butte is an isolated hill with steep sides, pronounced like the name Bute.
Practice
The vet prescribed ___ to reduce swelling in the horse's leg.
Choose one answer.
Bute is the common name of a horse painkiller. A butte is a hill, and the others are unrelated words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bute”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.