Butt (sailing)

From SpottingWorld, the Hub for the SpottingWorld network...

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.