Buttress

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A projecting mass of masonry, used for resisting the thrust of an arch, or for ornament and symmetry.

2. Anything which supports or strengthens. "The ground pillar and buttress of the good old cause of nonconformity." South. Flying buttress. See Flying buttress.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

To support with a buttress; to prop; to brace firmly. To set it upright again, and to prop and buttress it up for duration. Burke.