Buttress
Buttress ({not transcribed}) , noun
[Old English butrasse, boterace, from French bouter to push; compare Old French bouteret (nom. sing. and acc. pl. bouterez) buttress. See Butt an end, and compare Butteris.]
1.
(Architecture) A projecting mass of masonry, used for resisting the thrust of an arch, or for ornament and symmetry.
When an external projection is used merely to stiffen a wall, it is a pier.
2.
Anything which supports or strengthens.
The ground pillar and buttress of the good old cause of nonconformity.
Collocations (1)
Flying buttress , See Flying buttress.
Buttress ({not transcribed}) , transitive verb
To support with a buttress; to prop; to brace firmly.
To set it upright again, and to prop and buttress it up for duration.