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Buttonhole
Definitions
- 1 A hole through which a button is pushed to secure a garment or some part of one.
- 2 a hole through which buttons are pushed wordnet
- 3 A flower worn in a buttonhole for decoration. British
- 4 A flower worn in a buttonhole for decoration.; So shaped that it can be worn on a buttonhole or it is similar to a buttonhole. British, attributive
- 5 A small slot-like cut or incision, made for example by an accident with the scalpel.
"The usual cause of conjunctival buttonholes is penetration of the tissue by the tip of a sharp instrument […]"
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- 6 The mouth, nose or eyes of a tiny appearance.
- 7 vagina, coin slot. obsolete
- 8 The butthole (anus).
- 1 To detain (a person) in conversation against their will. colloquial, transitive
"He backed Mr. Lykins against an iron fence, buttonholed him, fastened him with his eye, like the ancient mariner, and proceeded to unfold his narrative as placidly and peacefully as if we were all stretched comfortably in a blossomy summer meadow instead of being persecuted by a wintry midnight tempest: […]"
- 2 detain in conversation by or as if by holding on to the outer garments of; as for political or economic favors wordnet
- 3 To cut one or more buttonholes (in). ambitransitive
- 4 To sew by buttonhole stitch. transitive
- 5 To make a small slot-like incision in (intentionally or unintentionally). archaic, transitive
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- 6 To apply a flowery formation in. rare, transitive
"What tree of more pulchritude and symmetricalness could you nominate for roadside, street and public park planting than the graceful linden? We should possess more of the spirit which predominates in this direction in the crowning gem of America’s constitutionality—the City of Washington, D. C. ‘‘Unter den Lindens’’ would not only be found in Germany, but in all the large cities of our grand and glorious United States. Washington has her Unter den Linden in the Massachussetts^([sic]) avenue. Her North and South Capital streets are buttonholed with the stately tulips, which are fit emblems to thus adorn the meridian of the United States."
- 7 To attain buttonhole-like formations on cutting. archaic, intransitive, rare
"Furze cut it himself after his dinner, with great care and concentrated solemnity, finding the loaf rather too new and the knife too blunt for the carving of slices of ideal thinness. The beastly things would buttonhole!"
Etymology
Originally buttonhold (“a loop of string to hold a button down”), but changed by folk etymology by influence of hole, By surface analysis, button + hole.
Originally buttonhold (“a loop of string to hold a button down”), but changed by folk etymology by influence of hole, By surface analysis, button + hole.
See also for "buttonhole"
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Unscramble this word: buttonhole