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Glite Dictionary
🌉 A support structure 🦷 A joining point
abutment

abutment

2 8.7
A structure at the end of a bridge or arch that supports its weight
  • noun
  • /əˈbʌtmənt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : estribo
  • "He looked away a moment, then took her by the arm and walked her to a stone abutment at the foot of the bridge where they could sit.
  • bridge abutment
  • concrete abutment

Examples

  • It was discovered last night in Van Nuys lodged against an abutment.

    The Big Lebowski (1998)

  • The concrete abutment was on my left, and since she was giving me no room on my right, I stopped.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • First one went 60 miles an hour into a bridge abutment.

    21 Bridges (2019)

  • You just backed over... a two-foot concrete abutment, you didn't even slow down.

    Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

  • However, the most significant engineering challenge of the project arose when geotechnical studies showed that the rock on the left dam abutment had several fissures that were up to a foot in width.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Water snakes are very common and can often be found basking on beaver dams and lodges, bridge abutments, banks, and shrubs.

    Blog text (12)

  • Valdosta: Two escaped convicts and an unidentified female passenger were killed Tuesday when the late-model stolen automobile they were driving struck a bridge abutment while being pursued by state police.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • His idea was to have guests cross through slate grey concrete abutments that block out the businesses along Ocean and enter a world of modernity and ancient forests—a paradox, if you will.

    Blog text (14)

  • The bridge's abutment was built from solid stone to withstand the heavy pressure of the arch above.

  • Engineers designed the abutment to effectively support the weight of the bridge and distribute the forces evenly.

Synonyms

pier
vsabutment
  • Specialized
22 3.6

A strong upright support in a building or bridge that holds weight

supports sideways pressure at arch or bridge ends rather than vertical loads
buttress
vsabutment
4 7.4

A support built against a wall to keep it standing

built to resist sideways force at arch or bridge ends

Compounds

abutment arch
  • Specialized
9.0

An arch that rests on a strong wall at one or both ends to carry weight

How Supportive

abutment
  • Specialized
2 8.7
to buttress
  • Specialized
1 7.3
pier
  • Specialized
22 3.6
to prop
68 4.1
post
99 1.0

Surface Forms

abutment singular
abutments plural

Morphology

abutment = abut (semi-transparent) = abut + ment

Derived from 'abut' + '-ment', but the specialized architectural sense 'a supporting mass at the end of a bridge' is a technical extension that may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Abutment comes from abut ('to touch' or 'to lean on') plus -ment ('a thing'), and the word came to name the heavy part that sits at the end of a bridge and supports the arch. That's why an abutment is the strong support or mass that holds up a bridge where it meets the ground.