buttock

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

Probably from Old English buttuc "end, short piece of land", attested since c1300, presumed cognate with butt

[edit] Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /ˈbʌt.ək/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Noun

buttock (plural buttocks)

1. (usually in the plural) Each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body between the base of the back and the top of the legs.

   The headmaster administered his 'fair' canings on bumbling boys' bare buttocks alternatively from the left and the right, marking each buttock equally painfully.

[edit] Usage notes

The plural form is usually used in the singular sense for a single person's posterior, often called butt. It is rarer to refer to only a single buttock, which is then usually specified as left or right.

[edit] Synonyms

• butt-cheek
• cheek
• ham
• mound
• (plurale tantum) hurdies pl.
• See also Wikisaurus:buttocks

[edit] See also

• callipygian/callipygous
• cacopygian
• dasypygal

[edit] Translations

[edit] References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
• “buttock” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001