Butt

Definition and stakes

Portrait of R. C. Lehmann R. C. Lehmann,  Rowing

“ If you can find a good, stout, willing butt—a butt who lends himself to nicknames, and has a temper as even as a billiard-table and as long as a tailor's bill—secure him at once and make him the nucleus of your crew. ”
Source: Gutenberg

Portrait of Thomas Davidson Thomas Davidson,  Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary 1908… (1908)

“ Butt, but, v.i. and v.t. to strike with the head, as a goat, &c.—n. a push with the head of an animal.—n. Butt′er, an animal that butts. [O. Fr. boter, to push, strike.]
Butt, but, n. a large cask: a wine-butt = 126 gallons, a beer and sherry butt = 108 gallons. [Cf. Fr. botte, Sp. bota, Low L. butta.]
Butt, but, n. a mark for archery practice: a mound behind musketry or artillery targets: one who is made the object of ridicule.—n.
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Source: Wikisource

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