butt in

phraseC1informal · an editor’s judgementNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To butt in is to interrupt a conversation you were not part of. Straight in, without waiting for a gap.

It is informal and disapproving, so accusing somebody of butting in is a real complaint. The image is of a goat butting its way through. It takes on when the conversation is named. Cut in does the same job. There is a polite British formula that softens it, since sorry to butt in is what people say while doing exactly that.

Definitions of butt in

1phrasebutt inTo interrupt a conversation rudely.C1
“Do not butt in while other people are speaking.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 11 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

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butt in

phraseC1informal · an editor’s judgementNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To butt in is to interrupt a conversation you were not part of. Straight in, without waiting for a gap.

Definitions of butt in

1phrasebutt inTo interrupt a conversation rudely.C1
“Do not butt in while other people are speaking.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 11 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word