Meaning & use
butting
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“butting” is a form of “butt”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
Hitting something or someone with the head or horns, usually with force, as a goat or ram does.
Grammar: Can take an object: the ram is butting the gate. It can also stand alone or be followed by against: butting against the fence.
Patterns
- butting someone with something
- butting against something
The young goat kept butting the gate until the farmer opened it.
Two rams were butting each other in the field.
The calf was butting against its mother to be fed.
phrasephrasal verbinformal
Interrupting a conversation or getting involved in someone's business without being invited, when used in the phrase butting in.
Grammar: No object; the particle in is needed: stop butting in. With on, it names the subject: butting in on our talk.
Patterns
- butting in on something
- butting in
Sorry for butting in, but I think the meeting starts at ten.
He kept butting in while she was explaining the plan.
Nobody likes a colleague who is always butting in on private conversations.
verbintransitive
Having one edge or end touching or lying directly against another, as with boards, walls or properties that meet.
Grammar: Followed by against or up to: the shed is butting up against the wall. No direct object.
Patterns
- butting up against something
- butting onto something
The garage is butting up against the neighbor's fence.
The two planks were butting neatly at the corner.
A tall hedge was butting onto the lane.
Word forms
| base form | butt |
|---|---|
| third person singular | butts |
| past tense | butted |
| past participle | butted |
Common combinations
- butting in
- Please stop butting in when I am speaking.
- butting heads
- The two managers are always butting heads over the budget.
- butting up against
- The new house is butting up against the old stone wall.
- butting into
- I hate butting into other people's arguments.
- butting out
- He said he would be butting out of the decision.
Synonyms and how they differ
- interrupting
- Interrupting is neutral and fits any break in speech, while butting in suggests rudeness or nosiness.
- meddling
- Meddling is stronger and concerns interfering in affairs, not only cutting into a conversation.
- ramming
- Ramming implies heavier, more forceful impact than the head-butting that butting describes.
- abutting
- Abutting is the formal word for sharing a boundary, and is common in legal and property writing.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: butting or putting?
butting vs putting
Putting is the -ing form of put and has nothing to do with butt; the two look alike only in handwriting or fast reading.
Practice
Which meaning of butting fits this sentence: 'Sorry to be butting in, but your phone is ringing'?
Choose one answer.
Butting in means interrupting politely or not. The other options are physical senses of butt and do not suit a spoken apology.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “butting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.