butt up

Verb

butt up (third-person singular simple present butts up, present participle butting up, simple past and past participle butted up)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To touch closely, to scrape (against); to press firmly (against).
   • Tonight’s sumptuous two-hour gig butts up hard against the curfew. Minutes often go by during which Murphy dispenses entirely with the business of singing pop songs. She’ll vogue, or reanimate some acid house moves, letting the beat take over.2021 September 25, Kitty Empire, “Róisín Murphy review – a triumphant dancefloor workout”, in The Guardian
2. (figuratively, idiomatic, intransitive) To be in sharp contrast with; to confront.
   • At their zenith—arguably their infamous two-consecutive-night Knebworth gigs in 1996—Oasis embodied a very particular swaggering Manchester-ness, an unmatched scally confidence that butted up against a more constructed, dare I say pretentious, British music scene.2024 August 28, Raven Smith, “Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, and the Art of the Public Feud”, in Vogue