buttress
Cathedral wall support
A buttress is a structure built against a wall to strengthen or support it, especially the angled stone projections on Gothic cathedrals.
The word extends to anything that provides support or reinforcement: The bill of rights serves as a buttress against tyranny.
As a verb, to buttress is to strengthen or prop up: She buttressed her argument with statistics.
Add strength to something
- strengthenMake more robust
- bolsterStrengthen or buttress
- fortifyMake stronger against threat
- shore upStrengthen against failure
prop · brace · underpin · scaffold · truss · girder · beam · strut
Prove something is true
- corroborateConfirm with supporting evidence
- validateConfirm as true
- back upReverse or support
- supportTo uphold or sustain
defend · uphold · justify · affirm · confirm · strengthen · reinforce · evidence
Bishop's principal church
- pierWaterfront landing structure
- masonryBuilding with mortared blocks
- vaultSecure storage chamber
- archCurved spanning structure
pinnacle · facade · nave · apse · transept · clerestory · spire · tracery
Supporting bottom structure
- bedrockSolid stone underground
- groundworkFoundational preparation for something
- underpinningFoundational support beneath
- cornerstoneFoundational building block
anchor · footing · substructure · basis · core · backbone · infrastructure · stability
Fortified defensive wall
- bastionFortified defensive position
- battlementToothed fortress wall crown
- keepRetain or fortified tower
- barbicanOuter defensive tower
parapet · fortress · castle · citadel · bulwark · stronghold · tower · curtain wall
Vertical rock wall
- cragSteep rugged outcrop
- ridgeNarrow raised strip
- outcropSurfacing native stone
- escarpmentSteep slope dividing elevations
spur · bluff · precipice · rock formation · granite · sandstone · erosion · weathering
reinforce
Add strength to something
- strengthenMake more robust
- bolsterStrengthen or buttress
- fortifyMake stronger against threat
shore up · prop · brace · underpin · scaffold · truss · girder · beam · strut · shoring
substantiate
Prove something is true
- corroborateConfirm with supporting evidence
- validateConfirm as true
- back upReverse or support
support · defend · uphold · justify · affirm · confirm · strengthen · reinforce · evidence · grounds
cathedral
Bishop's principal church
arch · pinnacle · facade · nave · apse · transept · clerestory · spire · tracery · Notre-Dame
base
Supporting bottom structure
- bedrockSolid stone underground
- groundworkFoundational preparation for something
- underpinningFoundational support beneath
cornerstone · anchor · footing · substructure · basis · core · backbone · infrastructure · stability · solidity
rampart
Fortified defensive wall
- bastionFortified defensive position
- battlementToothed fortress wall crown
- keepRetain or fortified tower
barbican · parapet · fortress · castle · citadel · bulwark · stronghold · tower · curtain wall · defensive wall
cliff
Vertical rock wall
escarpment · spur · bluff · precipice · rock formation · granite · sandstone · erosion · weathering · alpine
- architectureEiffel Tower, buildings, architects, design, thatching
- Medieval Europekings, queens, knights, castles, castle
- Wheels and Tirestire tread, tire pressure, tire rotation, wheel alignment, tread depth
- building partsfacades, wall, door, windows, floor
- building verbsbuild, construct, erect, demolish, renovate
- Gothicgargoyle, gothic fiction, pointed arch, gothic architecture, gothic revival
- flying buttressExternal arch transferring thrust
- flying buttressesExternal arched wall supports
- buttress rootsFlared tree base extensions