Butt (sailing)
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In shipbuilding, a butt is the joint between two planks on the outside of a ship, under water. Hence, when a plank is loose at one end, sailors called it springing a butt; to prevent which, ships were usually bolted at the butt-heads, that is, at the plank's end.
This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.