Definition of buttress

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but·tress    (btrs) KEY 

NOUN:

1. A structure, usually brick or stone, built against a wall for support or reinforcement.
2. Something resembling a buttress, as:
   1. The flared base of certain tree trunks.
   2. A horny growth on the heel of a horse's hoof.
3. Something that serves to support, prop, or reinforce: "The law is by its very nature a buttress of the status quo" (J. William Fulbright).

TRANSITIVE VERB:
but·tressed, but·tress·ing, but·tress·es

1. To support or reinforce with a buttress.
2. To sustain, prop, or bolster: "The author buttresses her analysis with lengthy dissections of several of Moore's poems" (Warren Woessner).

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English buteras, from Old French bouterez, from bouter, to strike against, of Germanic origin; see bhau- in Indo-European roots