Bottom vs But - What's the difference?
bottom | but |
The lowest part from the uppermost part, in either of these senses:
# (rfc-sense) The part furthest in the direction toward which an unsupported object would fall.
#* Macaulay
#* Washington Irving
# (rfc-sense) The part seen, or intended to be seen, nearest the edge of the visual field normally occupied by the lowest visible objects, as "footers appear at the bottoms of pages".
(uncountable, British, slang) Character, reliability, staying power, dignity, integrity or sound judgment.
(British, US) a valley, often used in place names.
* Stoddard
(euphemistic) The buttocks or anus.
(nautical) a cargo vessel, a ship.
* 1881 , :
(nautical) certain parts of a vessel, particularly the cargo hold or the portion of the ship that is always underwater.
* Shakespeare
* Bancroft
(baseball) The second half of an inning, the home team's turn to bat.
(BDSM) A submissive in sadomasochistic sexual activity.
(LGBT, slang) A man penetrated or with a preference for being penetrated during homosexual intercourse.
(physics) A bottom quark.
(often, figuratively) The lowest part of a container.
* {{quote-news, year=2011
, date=December 21
, author=Helen Pidd
, title=Europeans migrate south as continent drifts deeper into crisis
, work=the Guardian
A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon.
* Mortimer
The bed of a body of water, as of a river, lake, or sea.
An abyss.
(obsolete) Power of endurance.
(obsolete) Dregs or grounds; lees; sediment.
To fall to the lowest point.
* John J. Murphy, Intermarket Analysis: Profiting from Global Market Relationships (2004) p. 119:
To establish firmly; to found or justify on'' or ''upon'' something; to set on a firm footing; to set or rest ''on'' or ''upon something which provides support or authority.
* Atterbury
* South
* United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Executive Orders and Presidential Directives , (2001) p.59.
To rest, as upon an ultimate support; to be based or grounded.
* John Locke
To reach or impinge against the bottom, so as to impede free action, as when the point of a cog strikes the bottom of a space between two other cogs, or a piston the end of a cylinder.
(obsolete) To wind round something, as in making a ball of thread.
* Shakespeare
To furnish with a bottom.
To be the submissive in a BDSM relationship or roleplay.
To be anally penetrated in gay sex.
The lowest or last place or position.
(obsolete, outside, Scotland) Outside of.
Without, apart from, except.
Merely, only.
* 1791 , (Robert Burns), "(Ae Fond Kiss)":
* 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) :
* 1977 , (Alistair Horne), A Savage War of Peace , New York Review Books, 2006, p.49:
(Australian, conjunctive) Though, however.
Except (for), excluding. Preceded by a negation.
:
*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 23, author=Becky Ashton, work=BBC Sport
, title= On the contrary, but rather (introducing a word or clause that contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence without the not ).
:
However, although, nevertheless (implies that the following clause is contrary to prior belief or contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence).
:
:
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=
, volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement); also, with omission of the subject of the subordinate clause, acting as a negative relative, "except one that", "except such that".
*, II.15:
*:There is no reason but hath another contrary unto it, saith the wisest party of Philosophers.
*Shakespeare
*:And but my noble Moor is true of mindit were enough to put him to ill thinking.
*1820 , (John Keats), ‘Lamia’, Lamia & Other Poems :
*:A deadly silence step by step increased, / Until it seem'd a horrid presence there, / And not a man but felt the terror in his hair.
:
Without it also being the case that; unless that (introducing a necessary concomitant).
:
(obsolete) Except with; unless with; without.
*Fuller
*:So insolent that he could not go but either spurning equals or trampling on his inferiors.
*Motto of the Mackintoshes
*:Touch not the cat but a glove.
(obsolete) Only; solely; merely.
*Milton
*:Observe but how their own principles combat one another.
*Bible, 2 Kings vii. 4
*:If they kill us, we shall but die.
*Dryden
*:a formidable man but to his friends
An instance or example of using the word "but".
(Scotland) The outer room of a small two-room cottage.
A limit; a boundary.
The end; especially the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end; the butt.
In obsolete terms the difference between bottom and but
is that bottom is dregs or grounds; lees; sediment while but is only; solely; merely.As nouns the difference between bottom and but
is that bottom is the lowest part from the uppermost part, in either of these senses while but is an instance or example of using the word "but".As a verb bottom
is to fall to the lowest point.As an adjective bottom
is the lowest or last place or position.As a preposition but is
outside of.As an adverb but is
merely, only.As a conjunction but is
except (for), excluding. Preceded by a negation.bottom
English
Noun
- barrels with the bottom knocked out
- No two chairs were alike; such high backs and low backs and leather bottoms and worsted bottoms.
- lack bottom
- Where shall we go for a walk? How about Ashcombe Bottom ?
- the bottoms and the high grounds
- We sail in leaky bottoms and on great and perilous waters; [...]
- My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.
- Not to sell the teas, but to return them to London in the same bottoms in which they were shipped.
citation, page= , passage=In Ireland, where 14.5% of the population are jobless, emigration has climbed steadily since 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the bottom fell out of the Irish housing market. In the 12 months to April this year, 40,200 Irish passport-holders left, up from 27,700 the previous year, according to the central statistics office. Irish nationals were by far the largest constituent group among emigrants, at almost 53%.}}
- Silkworms finish their bottoms in fifteen days.
- (Dryden)
- a horse of a good bottom
- (Johnson)
Synonyms
* (lowest part) base * (buttocks) arse (British, Australian, NZ''), ass, fanny (''North American ), backside, bot, bott, botty, bum, buttocks * sit upon, derriere * (BDSM) catcher * (LGBT) catcher, passive, pathic, uke (Japanese fiction) * See also * See alsoAntonyms
* (lowest part) top * (BDSM) top * (LGBT) active, pitcher, top, versatileVerb
(en verb)- The Dow Jones Industrial Average bottomed''' on September 24, 2001. The CRB Index '''bottomed on October 24.
- Action is supposed to be bottomed upon principle.
- those false and deceiving grounds upon which many bottom their eternal state
- Moreover, the Supreme Court has held that the President must obey outstanding executive orders, even when bottomed on the Constitution, until they are revoked.
- Find on what foundation any proposition bottoms .
- As you unwind her love from him, / Lest it should ravel and be good to none, / You must provide to bottom it on me.
- to bottom a chair
Adjective
(en adjective)- ''Those files should go on the bottom shelf.
but
English
Preposition
(English prepositions)- Away but the hoose and tell me whae's there.
- Everyone but Father left early.
- ''I like everything but that.
Adverb
(-)- For to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love for ever.
- Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere.
- The stony outcrops are often covered but thinly with arable soil; winters are bitingly cold, and rainfall scanty and unpredictable.
- I'll have to go home early but .
Conjunction
(wikipedia but) (English Conjunctions)QPR 1-0 Chelsea, passage=Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot.}}
Ian Sample
Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains, passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
Travels and travails, passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But , as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}
Usage notes
* Beginning a sentence with a coordinating conjunction such as but' is considered incorrect by classical grammarians arguing that a coordinating conjunction at the start of a sentence has nothing to connect, but use of the word in this way is very common. It is, however, best to avoid beginning a sentence with '''but''' in formal writing. Combining sentences or using '''however''', '''nevertheless''', '''still''', or ' though is appropriate for the formal style. ** But this tool has its uses. ** This tool has its uses, however. ** Nevertheless, this tool has its uses. ** Still, this tool has its uses. ** This tool still has its uses. ** This tool has its uses, though. * The use of the word but preceded by a comma is also considered incorrect by classical grammarians. ** I was very tired, but I decided to continue. ** It was a lovely day, but rain looked likely.Synonyms
* (except) bar, unless, excepting, excluding, with the exception of, without * (however) yet, although, acNoun
(en noun)- It has to be done – no ifs or buts .