abut

verb

ə-ˈbət

abutted; abutting

Synonyms of abut next

transitive verb

: to border on : to touch along an edge

Their property abuts our land.

: to cause to touch or lean for support

abut a timber against a post

intransitive verb

: to touch along a border or with a projecting part

a parcel of land that abuts on the road

: to terminate at a point of contact

: to lean for support

Examples of abut in a Sentence

Their property and our property abut. our land abuts a nature preserve, so we see a lot of wildlife

Recent Examples on the Web The plant was shuttered; the surrounding land is now a wildlife refuge abutted by a sleek housing development. —

Abe Streep, Scientific American, 10 Nov. 2023 The image below shows Acapulco’s La Poza neighborhood, which sits southeast of the bay and abuts a lagoon, on Oct. 4. —

Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 31 Oct. 2023 Local police and wildlife officers searched for the gator over the weekend and found it again on Saturday night in Lake Creighton, which abuts Victor Crowell Park. —

Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 31 Aug. 2023 Get rid of the flammable stuff abutting your house — from wood mulch to flammable plants to trees, if their canopies are getting close to your house. —

Time, 22 Aug. 2023 Stone churches and stately Queen Anne-style homes preside over the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare, St. Elmo Avenue, which abuts the Tennessee-Georgia state line. —

Chris Moody, Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2023 Her view is now dominated by smokestacks and a concrete wall that abuts her land — the only barrier separating her livelihood from piles of steaming waste dumped there after the smelting process. —

Peter S. Goodman Ulet Ifansasti, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2023 Court dates are mashing up against court dates, which in turn are abutting important dates on the primary calendar. —

Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 4 Nov. 2023 The buildings are arrayed around Cypress Field, which is both an athletic space and a public park, serving students and the single-family homes that abut the school property. —

James McCown, BostonGlobe.com, 14 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abut.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English abutten, borrowed from Anglo-French abuter, from a-, verb-forming prefix (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + bout, but "push, thrust, blow, end, extremity," noun derivative from bouter, boter "to push, thrust, strike" — more at butt entry 3

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of abut was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century