Illustration of flying buttress
flying buttress
noun
: a masonry structure that typically consists of a straight inclined bar carried on an arch and a solid pier or buttress against which it abuts and that receives the thrust of a roof or vault
Examples of flying buttress in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That pinning point sustains pressure against the glacier’s interior, like a flying buttress pressing against the wall of a cathedral.
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Marissa Grunes, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Jan. 2023
The shelf and the sheet help to stabilize each other, like a flying buttress and a cathedral arch.
—David W. Brown, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2022
Once upon a time, Americans really only used Madrid as a stopover, maybe spending one night en route to somewhere else—with a broadly recognizable skyline, iconic bridge, flying buttress or other totem easily conjured in the collective imagination.
—Christian L. Wright, WSJ, 29 Apr. 2022
The console takes a page from Corvette with a flying buttress separating driver from passenger — doubling as an Oh, Crap!
—Tribune News Service, cleveland, 5 Mar. 2022
See all Example Sentences for flying buttress 
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Marissa Grunes, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Jan. 2023
The shelf and the sheet help to stabilize each other, like a flying buttress and a cathedral arch.
—David W. Brown, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2022
Once upon a time, Americans really only used Madrid as a stopover, maybe spending one night en route to somewhere else—with a broadly recognizable skyline, iconic bridge, flying buttress or other totem easily conjured in the collective imagination.
—Christian L. Wright, WSJ, 29 Apr. 2022
The console takes a page from Corvette with a flying buttress separating driver from passenger — doubling as an Oh, Crap!
—Tribune News Service, cleveland, 5 Mar. 2022
See all Example Sentences for flying buttress
Dictionary Entries Near flying buttress
Cite this Entry
“Flying buttress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flying%20buttress. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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