"but" meaning in English

See but in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /bʌt/ Audio: en-us-but.ogg [US] Forms: but [positive], [comparative], Superlative–
enPR: bŭt Head templates: {{adverb}} [POS TABLE]
  1. only
    Sense id: simple-but-en-adv--QWxlULt
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Categories (other): Adverbs

Conjunction

IPA: /bʌt/ Audio: en-us-but.ogg [US] Forms: but
enPR: bŭt Head templates: {{coordinator}} [POS TABLE]
  1. You use but to join two ideas and show that they are not the same.
    Sense id: simple-but-en-conj-2din3vWY
  2. You use but to change the topic.
    Sense id: simple-but-en-conj-UM8h5mni

Preposition

IPA: /bʌt/ Audio: en-us-but.ogg [US] Forms: but
enPR: bŭt Head templates: {{preposition}} [POS TABLE]
  1. except
    Sense id: simple-but-en-prep-sRJ5VHvE
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "but",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Coordinator"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "coordinator"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "conj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I would take you there, but I do not have my car."
        },
        {
          "text": "The changes were small but important."
        },
        {
          "text": "\"Do you speak French?\" \"No, but I speak Spanish.\""
        },
        {
          "text": "It says this not in words but in pictures."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "You use but to join two ideas and show that they are not the same."
      ],
      "id": "simple-but-en-conj-2din3vWY"
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I understand. And I'm sorry. But there is nothing I can do about it now."
        },
        {
          "text": "And that's important, but another thing that has changed is the location."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "You use but to change the topic."
      ],
      "id": "simple-but-en-conj-UM8h5mni"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bŭt"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bʌt/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/bVt/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-but.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "butt"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "but"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "but",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Preposition"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "preposition"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He ate everything but the meat."
        },
        {
          "text": "Any day but tomorrow would be fine."
        },
        {
          "text": "I forgot my bag. I guess there's nothing to do but go back."
        },
        {
          "text": "There are very few rules of grammar but have exceptions."
        },
        {
          "text": "I had no choice but to sign the contract."
        },
        {
          "text": "There is no one but is interested in it."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "except"
      ],
      "id": "simple-but-en-prep-sRJ5VHvE"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bŭt"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bʌt/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/bVt/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-but.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "butt"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "but"
}

{
  "categories": [
    {
      "kind": "other",
      "name": "Adverbs",
      "parents": [],
      "source": "w"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "but",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Superlative–"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adverb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "There is but one sun and one earth to live on."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "only"
      ],
      "id": "simple-but-en-adv--QWxlULt"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bŭt"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bʌt/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/bVt/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-but.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "butt"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "but"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "but",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Coordinator"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "coordinator"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "conj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I would take you there, but I do not have my car."
        },
        {
          "text": "The changes were small but important."
        },
        {
          "text": "\"Do you speak French?\" \"No, but I speak Spanish.\""
        },
        {
          "text": "It says this not in words but in pictures."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "You use but to join two ideas and show that they are not the same."
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I understand. And I'm sorry. But there is nothing I can do about it now."
        },
        {
          "text": "And that's important, but another thing that has changed is the location."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "You use but to change the topic."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bŭt"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bʌt/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/bVt/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-but.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "butt"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "but"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "but",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Preposition"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "preposition"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He ate everything but the meat."
        },
        {
          "text": "Any day but tomorrow would be fine."
        },
        {
          "text": "I forgot my bag. I guess there's nothing to do but go back."
        },
        {
          "text": "There are very few rules of grammar but have exceptions."
        },
        {
          "text": "I had no choice but to sign the contract."
        },
        {
          "text": "There is no one but is interested in it."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "except"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bŭt"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bʌt/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/bVt/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-but.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "butt"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "but"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Adverbs"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "but",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "–",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Superlative–"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adverb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "There is but one sun and one earth to live on."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "only"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "bŭt"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bʌt/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/bVt/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-but.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "butt"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "but"
}

Download raw JSONL data for but meaning in English (2.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2024-12-20 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.