What does buttress mean?
Word: Buttress
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Buttress means a block of stone or brick built against a wall to hold it up.
How do you spell buttress?
Syllables: but - tress
Tricky part: The t is doubled in the middle, and pupils who write butress lose one of them.
Watch out for: butress, butres
Memory tip: See the two t's as two strong posts standing side by side and propping up a wall.
Buttress in a sentence
Example 1: A huge buttress props up the old dam wall.
Example 2: Moss had covered the buttress on the north side of the fort.
Example 3: Workers added a brick buttress to the garden wall after the heavy rains.
Fun Fact
Trees have them too. Some big rainforest trees, and the semal or silk cotton tree of India, grow wide buttress roots that spread like fins from the trunk and help to keep the tree upright.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. buttriss 2. paraphernalia 3. mellifluous 4. quintessential
a) being the perfect example of a type
b) the many small things needed for a hobby
c) a stone prop on the side of a wall
d) sweet and flowing in sound
Show answer
c) a stone prop on the side of a wall. The i gives this one away: the final syllable should be ress.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word buttresses as used in the sentence:
Massive stone buttresses at the fort's outer wall have kept it standing for centuries.
a) towers
b) gates
c) windows
d) supports
Show answer
d) supports. These blocks hold the wall up, so they are supports.
Mingle-Mangle
Rearrange the jumbled letters in the sentence to form the right word:
The engineers drew a plan for a new concrete etusbtsr at the corner of the old bridge.
a) mattress
b) buttress
c) brightness
d) business
Show answer
b) buttress. The jumble has a b and two t's, and that matches one option alone.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
buttrress
a) r
b) t
c) e
d) u
Show answer
a) r. Straight after the double letter, the word has a lone r.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If a tall old wall has begun to lean outwards, what could a buttress do?
a) let more air into the building
b) make the wall look much taller
c) keep it from moving any further
d) carry water away from the roof
Show answer
c) keep it from moving any further
2. A builder would most likely place a buttress
a) behind a small kitchen door
b) against the outside of a high wall
c) on top of a tiled roof
d) in the middle of a wooden floor
Show answer
b) against the outside of a high wall
