abutted; abutting

transitive verb

1
: to border on : to touch along an edge
Their property abuts our land.
2
: to cause to touch or lean for support
abut a timber against a post

intransitive verb

1
: to touch along a border or with a projecting part
a parcel of land that abuts on the road
2
a
: to terminate at a point of contact
b
: 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 immediate area does not have much development, and on the south side of San Juan at that intersection, there are no homes or businesses: Essentially, the road abuts the freeway. Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 15 Apr. 2024 Gourmet Alley is currently a narrow street in downtown Gilroy that abuts a strip of restaurants, mostly serving to house dumpsters and access parking. Luis Melecio-Zambrano, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024 Generating particular excitement among planners is the prospect of opening up Eel River Canyon, abutting the nearly 200-mile Eel River, which runs along the northwestern coast not far from the Pacific Ocean. Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024 On the main floor, an open kitchen abutted a double-height dining room. Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024 This is Harbor Country—a cluster of eight small towns abutting Lake Michigan, all within a 15-minute driving radius. Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 21 Mar. 2024 Much of the furniture is oversized including the ultra king-sized beds and the altar experience showers, colossal baths abutting the window lines and great dressing areas serve to humanize the space. David Morris, Travel + Leisure, 15 Mar. 2024 There is a sprawling, 144,000-square-foot facility abutting the 60 Freeway in the City of Industry where hundreds of employees have already been working for weeks processing vote-by-mail ballots. Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024 An organic almond farmer whose orchard abuts a conventional one can’t easily dig up his mature trees and replant them somewhere else. Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024

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

Dictionary Entries Near abut

Cite this Entry

“Abut.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abut. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

abut

verb
abutted; abutting
: to touch along a border or with a part that sticks out
abutter noun

Legal Definition

abut

verb
abutted; abutting

intransitive verb

: to touch along a border or with a projecting part
used with on, upon, or against
the land abuts on the road

transitive verb

: to border on : reach or touch with an end
two lots that abut each other

More from Merriam-Webster on abut

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!