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buttons

American  
[buht-nz] / ˈbʌt nz /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

  1. a bellboy or page in a hotel.

buttons British  
/ ˈbʌtənz /

noun

  1. informal (functioning as singular) a page boy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of buttons

First recorded in 1840–50; so called from the many buttons of his uniform

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.