buttonhole
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to sew with a buttonhole stitch.
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to make buttonholes in.
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to hold by the buttonhole or otherwise abruptly detain (someone) in conversation.
The reporter tried to buttonhole the mayor for a statement on the bus strike.
noun
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a slit in a garment, etc, through which a button is passed to fasten two surfaces together
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US name: boutonniere. a flower or small bunch of flowers worn pinned to the lapel or in the buttonhole, esp at weddings, formal dances, etc
verb
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to detain (a person) in conversation
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to make buttonholes in
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to sew with buttonhole stitch
Other Word Forms
- buttonholer noun
Etymology
Origin of buttonhole
Vocabulary lists containing buttonhole
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Since I was born I have never experienced stable power supply. We call ourselves the giant of Africa but we can't fix electricity," complains Mr Adah as he works on a buttonhole.
From BBC • Jan. 31, 2023
She bounced around from L.A. factory to L.A. factory, avoiding wage theft and dodging sweatshops, before finally finding a job as a buttonhole operator on a production line, earning a decent wage.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 14, 2022
They have lunches, meet at conferences, buttonhole departmental women visitors, set up private Facebook pages and Slack channels, and are all over Twitter.
From Scientific American • Mar. 25, 2022
This opens the floor to everyone who has ideas — not just those with the loudest voices or the chutzpah to buttonhole leaders in passing to pitch their ideas.
From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2022
There was a rose in his buttonhole, and the tip of his handkerchief, folded into a triangle, peeped out of his breast pocket.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
