butters

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of butter.

   The baker butters the tins before the dough goes in.

   On the last jump the rider butters the tail of his board and spins out clean.

   Note

   The one -s form covers the verb's whole range, from the kitchen to the slopes. At the table it takes an object: she butters the toast. On skis or a snowboard it means shifting weight onto the tip or tail so that only that end touches the snow, or spinning balanced on it. The same spelling is also the plural noun, and only the sentence's grammar tells them apart.

2. 2
   adjectiveslangUK

   Ugly.

   The lads agreed the new stadium was proper butters, all grey concrete and no soul.

   She thought the dress was butters but wore it to please her mum.

   Similarugly, hideous, minging, grim

   Oppositepretty, beautiful, gorgeous, peng

   Note

   British slang with a cruel origin: it began as a clipping of butterface, a word for someone with an attractive body but an unattractive face, and the shortened form kept only the verdict. It does not take degrees, so there is no more butters and no butterest; something either is butters or is not. It is an insult, best kept among friends who share the slang and out of formal company.

3. 3
   noun

   Plural of butter.

   The tasting compared three cultured butters from small dairies.

   Shea and cocoa butters are the base of most of her hand creams.

   Note

   Counting butter by kind is what makes this plural possible. Because the food is usually a mass noun, the plural names varieties: cultured dairy butters, butters made from nuts or other foods and named for their source, and plant fats such as shea and cocoa used in creams and cosmetics. It is also the ordinary plural of the noun for someone or something that butts, where counting comes naturally.

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