The Only Use of
buttress
in
Macbeth
- The temple-haunting martlet, does approve
By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath
Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze, buttress,
Nor coigne of vantage, but this bird hath made
His pendant bed and procreant cradle,p. 37.1buttress = supporting structureeditor's notes: This could be paraphrased as: "The house martins demonstrates that the castle has good air because they build nests on every protrusion."
Definitions:
-
(1)
(buttress as in: buttress the defenses) make stronger or defensible
-
(2)
(buttress as in: a flying buttress) an architectural feature that supports the wall of a building
(See this Google Images link for buttress to see samples.)