butt v OED ~ v¹ 1 'thrust, shove.' To strike with prow repeatedly to force a passage through the ice.
   [1899] 1905 Nfld Law Reports 292 Some of the crew of the Kite assisted to turn the Gaspesia round by a rope from her bow to the ice. The Kite then went ahead 'butting' the pans of ice and making a track as well as she could, and the Gaspesia followed. 1909 BERNIER 7 Butting—is backing off and running the ship at ice in order to force or head a way through it. 1979 Evening Telegram 24 Dec, p. 8 The ship was in Jackson's Arm and had butted three miles of ice on the way to Hampden.

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