abutment

American  

[uh-buht-muhnt] / əˈbʌt mənt /

noun

1. Architecture, Civil Engineering.

   1. a masonry mass supporting and receiving the thrust of part of an arch or vault.

   2. a force that serves to abut an arch or vault.

   3. a mass, as of masonry, receiving the arch, beam, truss, etc., at each end of a bridge.

   4. a mass or structure for resisting the pressure of water on a bridge, pier, or the like.

   5. each of the parts of a canyon or the like receiving the thrusts of an arch dam.

   6. a structure for absorbing tensions from reinforcing strands for concrete being prestressed.

2. the place where projecting parts meet; junction.

3. Dentistry. a tooth or tooth root that supports or stabilizes a bridge, denture, or other prosthetic appliance.

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abutment British  

/ əˈbʌtmənt /

noun

1. the state or process of abutting

2. 1. something that abuts

   2. the thing on which something abuts

   3. the point of junction between them

3. architect civil engineering a construction that takes the thrust of an arch or vault or supports the end of a bridge

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Etymology

Origin of abutment

First recorded in 1635–45; abut + -ment

Example Sentences

“When you’re plowing the road you need to know where the bridge abutment is and where the expansion joints are so you don’t hook that with a plow,” LaBoe said.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 10, 2021

There was a stone abutment retaining wall with rocks on the other side and the ocean below.

From Slate • Jun. 25, 2021

Lines do not exist in nature, so the curved line in the center of the painting is formed by the physical abutment of two canvases.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2018

All eight had been on a 37-foot boat at the mouth of the Patapsco River when the boat struck the abutment, shearing off a piece of the bow above the waterline.

From Washington Post • Jul. 26, 2015

Across the creek from Julia’s house, where the old washed-out road lay in crumbled chunks, stood a concrete abutment that once served as an overpass to the floodwaters of winter and spring.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith