buttressing

verb

present participle of buttress
1
as in sustaining
to hold up or serve as a foundation for a brace buttressed the wall

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in reinforcing
to provide evidence or information for (as a claim or idea) a mass of circumstantial evidence buttresses the prosecutor's case

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of buttressing Veteran starter Lucas Giolito joined the organization last week, buttressing a shallow rotation. — Dennis Lin, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026 The competition with China will hinge not on mimicking Beijing’s methods but on buttressing the core strengths of the United States. — Lael Brainard, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2025 Traffic among higher-income shoppers has grown, Kempczinski added, buttressing the company’s revenue. — Max Zahn, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2025 The upstream glaciers, now without their buttressing support, flow faster toward the sea. — Evan Howell, Quanta Magazine, 20 Oct. 2025 Any good Marxist can tell you that the ruling class of any nation will frequently make social concessions as a way of buttressing its brute political power with moral credibility. — Book Marks august 7, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for buttressing
  1. sustaining
  2. reinforcing
  3. supporting
  4. bolstering
  5. carrying
  6. upholding
Verb
  • The secretary of state said the negotiations must involve all sectors of Venezuelan society and ultimately produce not only free elections but also institutions capable of sustaining democracy over the long term.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2026
  • When a storm, usually fed by unusually warm water, suddenly gathers a lot of strength, sustaining winds that increase in speed by at least 35 mph (56 kph) in 24 hours, it is called rapid intensification.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of sustaining
Verb
  • Residents walked and rode bicycles along the boardwalk as dozers and excavators moved along the beach, reinforcing the several-foot-high berms built to protect homes from the ocean waves.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
  • For Jim, the potential debt raise is a win for both companies, reinforcing the idea that Nvidia customers are generating strong returns on their AI investments.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of reinforcing
Verb
  • So regenerative has to regenerate livelihoods and communities too, including decent work and supporting the women who do much of the labor in cotton in many contexts.
    — SJ Studio, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • While Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia is planning to escalate with drone or rocket strikes on European allies supporting Ukraine, other countries have called for calm.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of supporting
Verb
  • At the same time, Kpler said on Wednesday, tanker traffic in the strait has improved significantly from a low point earlier in the war, bolstering exports from the region.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • However, NetApp is not just focused on bolstering its enterprise solutions for data centers.
    — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of bolstering
Verb
  • Nobody is accountable for carrying that signal across the business, another way of saying nobody owns it.
    — Jay Lee, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The cost of carrying a credit card balance and getting a car loan have also increased.
    — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of carrying
Verb
  • In April, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion upholding an arbitrator’s findings that the union may follow the card-signing process as a path to represent the workers.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Rubio visited Portugal a day after delivering a speech in the Greek capital, Athens, urging European countries to save Western civilization by upholding the values and traditions of ancient Greece.
    — Matthew Lee, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of upholding

Browse Nearby Words

buttresses
buttressing
butts
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Cite this Entry

“Buttressing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/buttressing. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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