Word.ws English Dictionary

abutment

/əˈbʌt.mn̩t/US/əˈbʌt.mn̩t/

abutment noun: the point of junction between two things, in particular a support, that abuts.

abutment: the point of junction between two things, in particular a support, that abuts
Image: Pearson Scott Foresman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

abutment (countable and uncountable, plural abutments)

  1. The point of junction between two things, in particular a support, that abuts.
  2. The solid portion of a structure that supports the lateral pressure of an arch or vault.
  3. A construction that supports the ends of a bridge; a structure that anchors the cables on a suspension bridge.
    • Each of the bridges consists of six separate girder spans on brick abutments.1959 May, “Talking of Trains: Bethnal Green alterations”, in Trains Illustrated, page 236
  4. The part of a valley or canyon wall against which a dam is constructed.
    • Heavy rains have caused the dam's abutments to seep, raising concern over possible dam failure.
  5. Something that abuts, or on which something abuts.
  6. The state of abutting.
  7. That element that shares a common boundary or surface with its neighbor.
  8. The tooth that supports a denture or bridge.
  9. A fixed point or surface where resistance is obtained.
    • The fulcrum acted as an abutment.

abutment meaning in Tamil and Indonesian

abutment in Tamil

தாங்கு சுவர், தாங்கி நிற்கும் கட்டுமானம், உதைவுக்கால், ஒட்டிக்கிடக்கை, முட்டிடம், உதைவு

abutment in Indonesian

engineering: support for the ends of a bridge
abutmen, kepala jembatan
dentistry: tooth that supports a denture or bridge
abutmen

Examples of abutment in a sentence

  • The inspection of this bridge abutment found extensive spall.
  • The wing walls are usually angled back from the abutment wall.
  • The shoreward arms of the north and south cantilevers were built into masonry abutments.

All 15 example sentences with abutment

Forms of abutment

pluralabutments

Origin of abutment

First attested in 1644; engineering sense first attested in 1793. From Old French aboutement. Equivalent to abut + -ment.

Questions about abutment

What does abutment mean?
Abutment means the point of junction between two things, in particular a support, that abuts.
What is abutment in Tamil?
Abutment in Tamil is தாங்கு சுவர், தாங்கி நிற்கும் கட்டுமானம், உதைவுக்கால். See Abutment meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is abutment?
Abutment is a noun.
How do you pronounce abutment?
Abutment is pronounced /əˈbʌt.mn̩t/ (UK).
What is the plural of abutment?
The plural of abutment is abutments.

Words near abutment in the dictionary

  1. abut
  2. abut on
  3. abutilon
  4. abutilons
  5. abutiloside
  6. abutment
  7. abutments
  8. abuts
  9. abuts on
  10. abutt
  11. abuttal

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: abutment (page history and authors); abutment (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-abutment.wav.

Cite this entry: “abutment.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/abutment. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.