▪ I. button, n.
(ˈbʌt(ə)n)
Forms: 4 botoun, botone, (sense 2) bothum, -eum, -om, 5 botwn, -un, -onne, Sc. bwttowne, 6 boton, botton, buttoun, -one, 7–8 butten, 5– button.
[a. OF. boton (mod.F. bouton) bud, knob, button; a common Romanic word = Pr., Sp. boton, Pg. botão, It. bottone:—late L. *bottōn-em, app. connected with late L. *bottare, buttare, to thrust, put forth (whence OF. boter, F. bouter, Sp. botar, It. bottare); the ultimate etymology is commonly supposed to be Teutonic; for conjectures see Diez, Scheler, Littré.
Sense 2 ‘bud’ appears to be the original sense in Romanic, but we have no instance of it in Eng. before 16th c., exc. as used (with peculiar spelling) in the Romaunt of the Rose.]
Generally. A small knob or stud attached to any object for use or ornament. spec.
1. a. A knob or stud of metal or other material sewn by a shank or neck to articles of dress, usually for the purpose of fastening one part of the dress to another by passing through a button-hole, but often merely for ornament: in process of use, the name has passed from the connotation of the shape to that of the purpose, and been extended to all appliances of the kind, a common type being a disc, quite flat, or slightly convex or concave, of metal, bone, glass, mother of pearl, paste, etc., perforated or otherwise adapted to be sewn on by its central part. (This specific application is now regarded as the primary sense, all the other meanings, whatever their historical origin, being understood as merely transf.)
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 220 On botounz of þe bryȝt grene brayden ful ryche. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 121 A ballok⁓knyf · with botones ouergylte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 45/2 Botwn, boto, fibula, nodulus. 1483 Cath. Angl. 50/1 A Button, fibula, nodulus, bulla. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. cci. [cxcvii.] 618 My booke..was..couered with crymson veluet, with ten botons of syluer and gylte. 1591 Florio Sec. Fruites 5 There Lacks I know not how many buttons. Set them on then. 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 309 Pray you vndo this Button. 1647 Husbandman's Plea agst. Tithes 75 It hath no buttons, nor hooks upon it. 1695 Blackmore Pr. Arth. ix. 296 Fast with Golden Buttons held. 1716 Lond. Gaz. No. 5435/4 Suits of Cloaths with Cloth Buttons. 1725 Ibid. No. 6402/2 A Wastcoat, with Glass Buttons set in Brass. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. v. lxix. 314 The new fashion of metal buttons. 1814 Scott Wav. xli, My short green coat, with silver lace and silver buttons. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. lv. 198 A fine linen shirt with studs and sleeve buttons. |
b. As a type of anything of very small value.
| c 1320 Sir Beues 1004 Hauberk ne scheld ne actoun Ne vailede him nouȝt worþ a botoun. 1340 Ayenb. 86 Hi ne prayseþ þe wordle bote ane botoun. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. clxxviii. 159 To haue of me as moche helpe as the value of a botonne. 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. Gal. II. 21 A button therfore for all worldely differences. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 146 They set not a button by his commaundements. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal iii. ii. (Arb.) 79, I would not give a button for my Play. 1713 Guardian No. 84 (1756) II. 13 Not..a button the worse for it. 1861 Geo. Eliot Silas M. 27 He did not care a button for cock-fighting. |
c. Playfully used
transf.| 1855 Househ. Words XII. 258 Screwing up its red little button of a mouth. |
d. boy in buttons: a boy servant in livery, a ‘page’. So
to put into buttons: to make a page of.
Cf. buttons.
| 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxxix, We don't put the latter into buttons. 1855 ― Newcomes xi, Boys in buttons (pages who minister to female grace). |
e. Phrases.
to take by the button, etc.: to detain in conversation, to buttonhole; also
fig. † it is in his buttons: ?
= he has fortune at his command, is sure to succeed.
dash my buttons: an exclamation indicating surprise and vexation (
colloq.).
to have a soul above buttons: said of persons who consider their actual employment unworthy of their talents (see
quot. 1795). In phrases expressing weakness of intellect, as:
not to have (got) all his buttons on,
to be a button short. Similarly
he has all his buttons (on): he is sound in intellect, ‘all there’.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. ii. 71 'Tis in his buttons, he will carry't. 1716 Lond. Gaz. No. 5459/2 The King was talking with him, and had hold of one of his Coat-Buttons 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man ii. i, I take my friend by the button. 1795 G. Colman Sylv. Daggerwood i. (1808) 10 My father was an eminent Button-Maker..but I had a soul above buttons..I panted for a liberal profession. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth I. 48 His fingers upon every one's button, and his mouth in every man's ear. 1833 Marryat P. Simple i, My father..had..a ‘soul above buttons’. 1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike i. 2 Caught him by the button and detained him in consultation. 1846 Comic Jack Giant K. iii. xiv. 18 ‘Dash my buttons’, he cried, ‘I have lost my way!’ 1860 Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) 109 Not to have all one's buttons, to be deficient in intellect. 1864 Lowell Biglow P. Wks. (1879) 314 Fame..is..privileged to take the world by the button. 1890 Daily News 21 May 6/3 He is 83 years of age, but as we say hereabouts, has all his buttons on. 1892 Leeds Merc. Suppl. 23 Jan. (E.D.D.), In Wilsden, one lacking full mental capacities has ‘some of his buttons off’. 1893 N. H. Kennard Diogenes' Sandals xi, They said..he had not ‘got all his buttons’, meaning that he was not ‘all there’. 1961 Times 16 Jan. 4/5 But East Midlands, too, had all their buttons on. |
f. Naut. button and loop: see
quot.| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 163 Button and Loop, a short piece of rope, having at one end a walnut knot, crowned, and at the other end an eye. It is used as a becket to confine ropes in. |
g. spec. A knob on the top of a cap (in the case of a Chinese mandarin indicating by its material the degree of his rank).
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 233 On Fortunes Cap, we are not the very Button. 1834 Fraser's Mag. X. 225 A mandarin of any considerable button. |
h. A button of a particular colour, or bearing a distinctive design, worn as a party badge.
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 180 Emblem Pins and Buttons..Masonic..Odd Fellows..Eastern Star. 1900 Daily News 5 Nov. 7/1 Another feature of an American Presidential campaign is the lavish display of political ‘buttons’. 1915 V. Woolf Voyage Out xix. 314 The parti-coloured button of a suffrage society. 1970 Times 14 Mar. 5/6 One [demonstrator] wore a Mao button. |
2. a. A bud; also used of various other parts of plants of a similar shape, as the protuberant receptacle of the rose; the small round flower-head of some
Compositæ; a small sort of fig; a small round seed-vessel.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 1790 The roser, where that grewe The freysshe bothum so bright of hewe. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. Prol. 101 The lowkyt buttonis on the gemmyt treis. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. i. 4 Alongst the braunches [of wormwood] groweth little yellow buttons. 1665–76 Ray Flora 26 The button under the rose being bigger than that of any other. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Misc. Tracts (1684) 70 The Buttons, or small sort of Figgs. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece iii. 219 A Yellow Flower..succeeded with a Button, full of downy Seeds. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. I. s.v. Hop Gard., About August the Hop will begin to be in the bell or Button. 1852 Aird in Blackw. Mag. LXXI. 237 The simple flowerets..open their infant buttons. |
b. spec. The ‘head’ of a mushroom in its unexpanded state. Also applied
dial. to a fossil.
| 1743 Pickering in Phil. Trans. XLII. 598 The Head of the Mushroom..while it is, what is commonly called, a Button. 1839 Alford in Life (1873) 11 Bright bronzed ammonites..other sparkling nondescripts, known as mushrooms and buttons. 1882 Jefferies Bevis II. xviii. 280 ‘Buttons,’ full grown mushrooms, and overgrown ketchup ones. |
† c. transf. The knob or ‘bud’ which forms the beginning of a stag's horn.
Obs.| 1575 Turberv. Venerie 47 Hartes..beginne in..March and Apryll to thrust out their Buttones. 1623 Cockeram s.v. Pollard, Butten is the first part in putting vp a Stagges head. |
3. Used (chiefly in
pl. form) as the popular name of many different plants having button-like flowers or seed-vessels: see
bachelor's,
beggar's buttons under
bachelor,
beggar.
Barbary buttons (formerly also
button),
Medicago scutellata.
gentlemen's buttons,
Scabiosa succisa (Britten and Holland).
London buttons (see
quots.).
| 1598 Florio, Baccara, an hearbe, whose roote is very sweete..called our ladies gloues, or London buttons. 1611 Cotgr., Gantelée, the hearbe called Fox-gloues, our Ladies gloues..and London buttons. 1665–76 Ray Flora 190 Snails or Button..The vessels..in some are like a Snail's house..in some like small Buttons. 1711 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 386 Round Snails or Barbary Buttons. |
4. a. transf. from 1. Applied to various productions of art resembling a button in shape or function; a knob, handle, catch; the knob or disc of an electric bell.
spec. An oblong piece of wood or metal, turning on a screw fixed through its centre, used to fasten doors, etc.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 396 The button of the [mouse-] trap. 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 301 Covered with buttons or sliders to prevent dirt or dust falling into the holes. 1801 W. Felton Carriages Gloss., Buttons, nails or screws with large brass heads for the purpose of hitching on the straps. 1852 Seidel Organ 35 A number of handles or buttons..called stops. 1862 All Y. Round VII. 381 There are buttons on window-sashes, and buttons on drawer handles. 1867 E. Yates Forl. Hope iii. 28 Untwist the button on the door. 1871 Le Fanu Checkm. I. xiv. 197 Mr. Davies turned the button of his old-fashioned window. 1880 J. Hawthorne Ellice Quent. II. 261 By turning a button attached to the pipe that supplied the lights, they were at once extinguished. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 134 By means of the winding button the contrate wheel is turned to the right. |
b. Phr.
to press the button: to push back a disc, pin, knob, or the like and thus produce the required result by completing an electric circuit, operating the shutter of a camera, etc. Often
fig. in colloquial use, to perform an action that automatically brings about the required state of affairs.
| 1860 Nat. Mag. VIII. 278/2 By pressing a button..the light can be given in flashes. 1865 Mech. Mag. 10 Mar. 155/1 On pressing one of these buttons with the finger, the bell..is rung loudly. 1893 Cassell's Fam. Mag. Mar. 318/1 Then he pressed the button of the camera. 1893 Jrnl. Soc. Arts XLI. 629/2 President Cleveland..pressed the button which started all the..machinery... The button..was of ivory. 1893 [see press v.1 1 a]. 1905 Minister's Gaz. Fashion July 138/1 Pressing the Button. A Plea for Modern Methods...When the art of cutting will be reduced to a mechanical science. 1914 E. Grey in Europ. Crisis, Corr. (Parlt. Papers CI) 46 Mediation was ready to come into operation..if only Germany would ‘press the button’ in the interests of peace. E. Goschen Ibid. 59 The Chancellor told me last night that he was ‘pressing the button’ as hard as he could. 1962 Wodehouse Service with Smile i. 12 Thinking..that the ideal way of opening Parliament would be to put a bomb under it and press the button. |
Also
to press button A or B: of a former type of telephone coin-box;
button A completed the connection after the called subscriber had answered;
button B actuated a mechanism to return the coins if there was no answer or if the required number was engaged.
| 1934 Discovery Mar. 58/2 Distinguishing between buttons A and B, deciding when to press either or both. 1935 G. Greene England made Me i. 17, I rang up four times from a box..and I remembered three times to press Button B and get my money back. 1942 J. D. Carr Seat of Scornful xiii. 188 Unless you put the money in, you couldn't press Button A and the connection wouldn't work. 1961 ‘T. Hinde’ For Good of Company i. 16 Tony seized the phone and held it out of the box towards him. ‘Press Button A,’ he shouted. |
c. The leather projection on an oar, by which it is kept in position in the rowlock.
| 1866 ‘Argonaut’ Arts Rowing & Training ii. 11 Both [oars and sculls] are kept in their proper place in the rowlock by a circular button of a peculiar shape, on the leather, which plays against the inner side of the thowl. 1888 W. B. Woodgate Boating iii. 63 If the body swings true, the oar will keep home to the rowlock; there should be just sufficient fraction of weight pressed against the button to keep it home. 1963 Times 18 Feb. 3/7 Mead was pulling his button away from the rowlock, almost clear of the leather. |
d. In an organ, a round piece of leather that keeps the tracker from jumping out of place.
| 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v. Organ, A tracker, a strip of light wood provided with a tap wire and leather button at the end. 1877 Stainer Organ 17 The little wire passing from the end of the tracker into the hole in the backfall is made like a screw,..so, where it appears below the backfall, a little leather button can be screwed on to it. |
e. Each of the keys of an accordion.
| 1876 Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v. Accordion, The first instruments had only four buttons, or keys, each of which acted on two reeds. |
5. a. Any small rounded body; a knob, globule, disc, etc.
Obs. exc. as in
spec. senses following.
| a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 127 The clots or buttons of bloud in the garden [of Gethsemane]. 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exper. 54 An hollow Button of Glass. |
b. Chem. A globule of metal remaining in the cupel or crucible after fusion. [So
Fr. bouton.]
| 1801 Chenevix in Phil. Trans. XCI. 221 He..obtained a metallic button, which was found to be Copper. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 379 A button of pure tin will be found at the bottom of the crucible. 1854 Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sc. Chem. 509 The result..is a button of gold mixed with silver. |
c. Anat. and
Surg. In various applications.
| 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. § 4. ¶55 The Button of the Optic Nerve. 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 321/1 At the parts of the gizzard opposite the musculi laterales two callous buttons are..formed. 1885 Harper's Mag. Mar. 633/1 The removal of a button of bone from the skull. |
d. pl. The testes of an animal.
e. A knob or disc fixed on the point of a fencing foil. [So in
Fr.:
bouton d' un fleuret.]
| [1615 see button v. 1 b.] a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Challenge of Knts. Err. Wks. (1711) 232 They would have most willingly taken the buttons off the foils. 1824 Carlyle W. Meister (1874) I. ii. xiv. 121 We can rub the buttons of them with a piece of chalk. 1868 Helps Realmah xv. (1876) 410 The buttons are on their foils. |
f. Naut. (See
quot.)
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 163 Buttons, small pieces of thick leather under the heads of nails that are driven through ropes. |
g. The point of the chin.
U.S. slang.| 1921 H. C. Witwer Leather Pushers 48 The Kid..floored him with a right cross to the button of the jaw. 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) 278, I never saw a more accurate puncher than Rusty Charley, because he always connects with that old button. 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas ii. 27 He soaked him on the button, don't you know. |
6. An ornamental terminal knob, as on a handle, staff, or sceptre.
spec. The knob of metal at the breech end of a piece of ordnance; also
attrib. in
button astragal, the raised moulding encircling the button. [
Fr. bouton.]
| 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2030/4 The Button of His Majesty's Scepter. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) I iij, The breech..and it's button, or cascabel. 1859 F. Griffiths Artil. Man. Plate (1862) 50 S Button, a b Button Astragal. |
7. A ring of leather through which the reins of the bridle pass, and which may be moved along so as to tighten up and restrain the horse's head (see Littré). Also
fig. cf. serrer le bouton à, ‘to restraine,..beare a hard hand ouer’ (
Cotgr.).
| 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1594) 504 They must..let downe the button, and holde them hard in with the bridle. |
8. (See
quot.)
| 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. i. 140 [The hay is] then made into button or small cock. |
9. slang. A person who acts as a decoy; the accomplice of a thimble-rigger; a sham-buyer at an auction employed to bid and raise the price of articles.
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 328 To..act as a button (a decoy), to purchase the first lot of goods put up. 1877 Besant & Rice Son of Vulc. ix, The ‘Button’, that is, the confederate who egged on the flats. |
10. pl. The dung of sheep, etc. Hence in
obs. phrase meaning ‘to be in great terror’.
| 1749 W. Ellis Shep. Guide 148. 1778 Exmoor Scolding Gloss., Buttons..sometimes us'd to express Sheeps Dung, and other Buttons of that kind. 1847–78 in Halliwell. |
| 1598 Florio 198 Il culo gli fa lappe, his taile makes buttons, his buttocks goes a twitter twatter. 1690 W. Walker Idiom. Anglo-Lat. 78. 1702 Mouse grown Rat 23 My Breech began to make Buttons; I dream't of nothing but Impeachments, Attainders, Poll-Axes and Gibbets. 1808 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. i. s.v. Button, His tail maketh buttons, valde trepidat. |
† 11. a. A swelling, pimple [
Fr. bouton];
cf. button-farcy (below).
buttons of Naples: ‘syphilitic buboes’ (Nares).
| ? a 1600 in Nares s.v., The Frenchmen at that siege got the buttons of Naples (as we terme them) which doth much annoy them at this day. |
b. Aleppo button: cutaneous leishmaniasis (oriental sore), a form of the disease endemic in parts of Asia and Africa and caused by infection with
Leishmania tropica; also, the local lesion characteristic of this infection. So also
Baghdad button,
Biskra button (also
boil), etc.
The F. form
bouton was formerly also used.
| 1874 Med. Times & Gaz. 24 Jan. 94/2 It is generally believed that the Aleppo Button takes about a year before it heals: hence the name of the year pimple, given to it by the natives. 1876 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 19 Feb. 225/2 (heading) Aleppo boil or ‘Biskra bouton’. 1897 Daily News 18 Sept. 6/2 The ‘Bagdad button’ (a painful species of boil). 1911 T. E. Lawrence Home Lett. (1954) 138 The Aleppo button is the effect of a fly. 1969 Kurban & Chaglassian in Simons & Marshall Ess. Trop. Dermatol. 187 Various synonyms are used for oriental sore, depending on the region in which it is found, e.g., Aleppo boil, Baghdad boil, Delhi boil, Biskra button, Jericho boil and many others. |
c. Med. Any small, rounded elevation on the cutaneous or mucous surface. (
Cf. prec. sense.)
| [1876 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 19 Feb. 226/1 Villemin mentions that the ‘boutons on the feet are sometimes multiple, simulating syphilitic ulcers’.] 1888 C. M. Doughty Trav. Arabia Deserta II. xv. 452, I washed the wound..but a red button remained. 1900 Jrnl. Exper. Med. 15 Dec. 259 More characteristic lesions..are the so-called ‘buttons’. |
12. a. attrib. and
Comb., as
button-cap,
button-end,
button-farcy,
button-lac,
button-like adj.,
button-maker,
button-making,
button-seller,
button-shank,
button-shaped adj.,
button-stamper,
button-suit,
button-top,
button-tuft,
button-worker;
button-ball,
Platanus occidentalis (
= button-wood);
button-blank, a disc of metal, bone, or other material, to be formed into a button;
button-board, pasteboard used for making button-moulds;
button-boot, a boot fastened with buttons;
button-boy, a page (
cf. 1 d);
button-brace, a brace (see
brace n.2 6) used in the manufacture of buttons;
button brass, (
a) (see
quot. 1884); (
b) a strip of brass slipped under a metal button to shield the garment while the button is being cleaned;
button bud, a bud resembling a button;
button-bur (see
quot.);
button-bush, a North American shrub (
Cephalanthus occidentalis), so called from its globular flower-heads;
button ear, an ear, of a dog, that laps over and hides the inside; hence
button-eared adj.;
button fastener, (
a) a spring loop, the free ends of which are passed through the shank of the button to keep it in place; (
b) (see
quot. 1884);
button-fish, the sea-urchin (
Echinus);
button-flower, the genus
Gomphia of tropical trees or shrubs;
button-grass Austral. (see
quot. 1898);
button-hanger (see
quot.);
button-hook, a hook for pulling buttons (of boots and gloves) through the button-holes;
† button-iron, an iron instrument with a knob at the end, used for cauterizing;
button key = button fastener (a);
button-mould, a disc of wood or other material to be covered with cloth to form a button;
button-mushroom, a young mushroom (
= button 2 b);
button-nosed a., having a small roundish nose;
button-pointed a., having a button or knob at the point;
button-quail (see
quots.);
button-regal, an obsolete reed stop on an organ;
button-scar, a scar drawn up into button-shape, used for ornamentation of the body by some African peoples;
button shell, a small marine univalve of the genus
Rotella, with a lenticular polished shell (
Funk's Stand. Dict. 1893);
button-stick, a soldier's appliance for use in button-polishing (
= button brass b, but
usu. made of wood);
button-tree, the genus
Conocarpus, ‘consisting of trees and shrubs from tropical America and Western Africa’ (
Treas. Bot.);
button-turn (see
quot.);
button-weed, the genera
Spermacoce and
Diodia of tropical Cinchonaceæ; also a local name for the Knapweed,
Centaurea nigra;
button-wood, an American name for the Occidental Plane-tree (
Platanus occidentalis); also
= button-bush; also
= button-tree. See also
button-hold, -holder,
button-hole, -holer.
| 1882 Century Mag. XXII. 760 Beneath the *button-ball at the gate. |
| 1851 Illust. Lond. News 16 Paper of any description, or *button board, millboard, etc. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 556 A circular disc of button-board suitable for forming the core of a button. |
| 1883 Daily News 14 Feb. 3/4 A long overcoat, *button boots, and cloth cap. |
| 1877 R. Broughton Joan xii. (1881) 120 The *button-boy never would answer her bell. |
| 1884 Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iii. 16/2 For *button brass, an alloy of 8 parts of copper and 5 of zinc is commonly used by the Birmingham makers, under the name of ‘platin’. 1899 Daily News 27 Dec. 8/3 The ‘button brass’... This little plate tucked under the button with its shank in the slit enables the button to be well rubbed without mischief. |
| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xvii, The opening cones were struck with brown, in between the *button buds. |
| 1634 T. Johnson Merc. Bot., *Button Bur, Xanthium Strumarium. |
| 1754 J. Eliot Ess. Field-Husb. (1760) v. 124 There was not the same Success attending the cutting these *Button Bushes. 1880 Scribner's Mag. Feb. 510 In thickets of button-bushes. |
| 1606 T. Whetenhall Disc. Abuses Ch. of Christ 162 Som [weare] round cappes, som hattes, som *button cappes. |
| 1883 G. Stables Our Friend Dog vii. 59 *Button-ear, an ear that falls in front, entirely concealing the inside. 1952 R. Leighton Complete Bk. Dog 73 Unfortunately, within the last few years the ‘button’ and ‘semi-tulip’ ear have been rather prevalent. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 279 A hole..made with the *button end of your drawing Iron. |
| 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. (1706) v. 97 Commonly divided into these kinds; the *Button or Knotted Farcy, the Running Farcy, the Water Farcy, and the Pocky Farcy. |
| 1867 Mrs. Whitney L. Goldthwaite x, She had hooks and eyes, and *button-fasteners, when these gave out. a 1877 [see button key]. a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Button Fastener, a clasp which hooks over the eye of a shoe button and is then clinched to the shoe. |
| 1740 Humphreys La Pluche's Nature Displ. xxii. 148 Sea-Urchins or *Button-Fishes. |
| 1898 Morris Austral Eng., *Button-grass, Schœnus sphærocephalus, Poiret, N.O. Cyperaceæ... So called from the round shaped flower (capitate inflorescence), on a thin stalk four or five feet long, like a button on the end of a foil. 1927 Blackw. Mag. Oct. 470/1 A steep razor-backed hill, covered with ragged clumps of button-grass and dwarfed ti-tree. 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose i. 6 Button-grass plains where no feed grows that will sustain a horse. |
| 1801 Felton Carriages Gloss., *Button-hangers, small ornamental tassels, which are placed on the fringe. |
| 1870 M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. v. 116 Tweezers, *button-hooks, and corkscrews. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 285 With a *button iron of an inch about, burn at each end a hole. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Button Key or Fastener, a spring loop..to..keep the button in place. |
| 1883 Cassell's Fam. Mag. cvii. 686/2 Lac is exported almost exclusively in the manufactured state as dye, shell-lac, and *button-lac. |
| 1874 Wyville Thomson in Gd. Words 747 *Button-like heads of yellow flowers. |
| a 1613 Overbury A Wife (1638) 181 A *Button-maker of Amsterdam. 1863 Reader 21 Feb. 188 The prodigal..marries the daughter of a deceased buttonmaker. |
| 1687 Royal Proclam. in Lond. Gaz. No. 2297/1 The Trade of *Button-making. |
| 1621 Hist. T. Thumbe in Halliwell's Shaks. (1850) VI. 192 The wheeles [of Tom Thumb's coach] were made of foure *button-mouldes. 1801 M. Edgeworth Early Less. II. Harry & L., A large wafer..and a wooden button mould of the same size. |
| 1865 Cornh. Mag. XII. 627 Produced like *button-mushrooms in a hot-bed. |
| 1909 H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay iii. ii, *Button-nosed, pink-and-white Aunt Susan. |
| 1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 280/1 The upper is found to consist..in the case of a button boot, of a ‘vamp’..a large and small ‘quarter’..and a *button piece to fasten the shoe around the foot. |
| 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 183/1 A *button-pointed bistoury. |
| 1885 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 46/1 The Hemipodes or *Button-Quails. 1893 Button quail [see hemipod]. 1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. xxxii. 276 Button quail or riet kwartel (Turnicidæ).—Three species of Hemipodes, or button quail, exist in South Africa. They are smaller than true quail and lack a hind toe. |
| 1852 Seidel Organ 84 The obsolete registers; bear's pipe, and Apple, or *button-regal, were stopped reed-registers. |
| 1897 A. J. Butler tr. Ratzel's Hist. Mank. II. 394 In the so-called ‘*button-scars’, a row of button-shaped warty scars runs from the edge of the forehead to the tip of the nose; this is found both on the Congo and on the Zambesi. |
| 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2220/4 Mr. Edward Miller, *Button-seller. |
| 1862 All Y. Round VII. 378 Down upon his knees grubbing for buttons and *button-shanks. 1880 L. Wingfield In her Maj. Keeping II. i. xii. 51 It don't matter to me a buttonshank. |
| 1849–52 Todd Cycl. Anat. IV. 1213/1 *Button-shaped, dilated suckers. |
| 1883 Birmingham Daily Post 11 Oct., *Button-stamper, for Brace and Shell-work. |
| 1890 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads (1892) 20 I've a head like a concertina: I've a tongue like a *button-stick. 1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 150 Button sticks..were used for cleaning uniform buttons. |
| 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxxvii, Tummus's *button-suit was worn. |
| 1840 Blackw. Mag. XLVIII. 305 A result which..nobody would think worth a decent-looking *button-top. |
| 1725 Sloane Jamaica II. 18 *Buttton Tree. This tree..grows near the sea-side..among the mangroves. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 159 Button-tree or Button-wood. These trees..grow luxuriantly in all the low sandy bays and marshes. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 37 [A] *Button Turn [is] a brass block pivotted in the index arm and covering the curb-pin. |
| 1878 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Button Weed, Centaurea nigra, L.—Suss. |
| 1698 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XX. 401 Lignum Fibularium (i.e.) *Button-wood nostratibus dicta. 1837 Fraser's Mag. 686 The cool shade of some spreading buttonwood-tree. 1852 Hawthorne Blithed. Rom. xvii, Besieging the button-wood tree. 1883 Century Mag. Aug. 547/2 The long lane, shaded by button-woods. |
| 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. iv. 50 [It] would find a ready sale among the *button-workers of England. |
b. attrib. with qualifying numeral; having (so many) buttons, as in
ten-button gloves.
| 1884 Howells in Harper's Mag. Dec. 117/1 What if he should bring a ten-button instead of an eight! |
Add:
[5.] h. transf. (right) on the button: on target, at exactly the right moment; exactly (right), precisely.
colloq. (
orig. U.S.).
| 1928 Hecht & MacArthur Front Page i. 34 He takes a final drink from the flask, then throws it out the window. A scream of rage arises..: On the button! 1937 Printers' Ink Monthly May 40/1 On the button, a program ending exactly on time. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §279/6 Satisfactory,..(right) on the button, patsy, plenty good enough. 1949 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 25 Sept. 14 (heading) Right on the button. 1952 New Yorker 17 May 30/3, I..then strolled jauntily over to Ricky's, at five o'clock on the button. 1962 J. Glenn in Into Orbit 142 All the factors of the flight..would have to be right on the button or we would not get into a proper orbit. There was little tolerance for errors. 1985 W. Safire in N.Y. Times Mag. 27 Oct. 14/5 Should you use a ring-a-ding word, smack on the button of your meaning, when your listener or reader is not likely to understand? |
▪ II. button, v. (
ˈbʌt(ə)n)
Forms: 4–5
boten, 5
bothon, 6–7
butten, 5–
button.
[f. button n.; cf. F. boutonner.] 1. a. trans. To furnish or adorn with buttons or knobs. (Usually in
pa. pple.)
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 166 Gloues..þat with gold ibotened were. 1394 P. Pl. Crede 296 A cote..queyntly y-botend. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxvi. 233 Short clothes..on euery syde slatered and botened. 1658 Ussher Ann. 742 A purple robe buttoned with precious stones. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. viii, Without vestments, till he buy or steal such, and..sew and button them. |
b. To fit (a fencing foil) with a button (see
button n. 5 e).
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 168 A sticke..buttoned at the end with leather, in manner of a foile. 1662 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 17 To have fenced with rebated rapiers and swords buttoned up. |
† c. To raise knobs or pimples on.
Obs.| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. (1606) 345 Humour which..within Their bodies boyling butt'neth all their Skin. |
2. a. To fasten (a garment) with buttons; to secure or close by means of a button or buttons. Often with
up.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 46 Bothon clothys, botono, fibulo. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 320 These the Christians vse to butten on the right syde: and the Tartars butten them on the lefte syde. 1695 Blackmore Pr. Arth. x. 484 Elia..buttoned on his rich embroider'd Vest. 1701 Lond. Gaz. No. 3701/4 A Beaver Hat buttoned up. 1827 Carlyle Transl. (1874) 41 He..buttoned-up his scissor-pouch. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xv, He buttoned his doublet anew. 1840 Carlyle Heroes v. 274 Something he can button in his pocket. 1864 Mag. for Young Sept. 290 Jack had got Euclid buttoned up inside his jacket. |
b. To fasten the clothes of (a person) with buttons. Usually
refl.; also
absol. (for
refl.).
| 1662 R. Mathew Unl. Alch. §20 He could not button himself, nor put on his clothes. 1855 Chamb. Jrnl. IV. 187, I had to button up against a succession of short summer showers. 1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xxxiv. 201 Old gentlemen buttoned up across the chest. 1879 Stevenson Trav. Cevennes 66, I buttoned myself into my coat. |
c. To fasten (a door) with a
button (
n. 4).
| 1837 New Monthly Mag. L. 397 [She]..buttoned the door. 1882 Blackmore Christowell I. xvi. 249 To keep one pew buttoned on a Sunday. |
3. fig. To close tightly, fasten, confine, keep under restraint, etc. Often with
up.
to button (a person's) mouth: to silence (a person);
to button (up) one's lip,
face (slang): to be silent; also
ellipt.| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. ii. 34 On[e] whose hard heart is button'd vp with steele. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. xi. ix. (1622) 151 The Princes eares would be buttened and deafe. 1647 J. Trapp Comment. Four Evang. 526 How easily can God button up the mouths of our busiest adversaries. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xi, Buttoned up in the straitest non-conformity. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1871) II. iv. iii. 136 Thoughts—which he must button close up. 1840 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 151 Shy and solitary, and, as it were, buttoned up, body and soul. 1868 N. & Q. I. 603 At school, it was thought quite an accomplishment in the young gentlemen who were fast of tongue to be able to silence a talkative comrade with the phrase ‘button your lip’. 1936 A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza xxv. 352 Mr. Beavis..began to describe his researches into modern American slang..Horse feathers, dish the dope, button up your face—delicious! 1945 L. Shelly Hepcats Jive Talk Dict. 22/2 Button up your lip, don't talk. 1962 K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed ix. 61 If the little pusher chose to button up now, I would be left helpless. |
4. intr. (for
refl.). Of garments: To be, or be capable of being, fastened (
up) with buttons. Hence
button-down a. (
orig. U.S.), applied to a collar the points of which are buttoned to the shirt;
button-through a., applied to a garment fastened with buttons from top to bottom;
button-up a., that buttons up; also
absol. as n.| 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. i. ii, If it had been tighter, 'twould neither have hooked nor buttoned. 1839 New Monthly Mag. LV. 483 A jacket that buttons up close to the neck. 1875 Besant & Rice Harp & Cr. II. iii. 66 It [the coat] buttons across the chest. |
| 1934 J. O'Hara Appt. Samarra (1935) v. 151 Soft white shirt with button-down collar. 1960 Guardian 9 June 1/1 The egg-head in the button-down collar..an American type. |
| 1920 Ware-Pratt Co. Stylebook Nov., It is a double-breasted, button-through model with long rolling lapels, narrow gorge and velvet collar. 1952 C. W. Cunnington Eng. Women's Clothing viii. 275 Wool housecoat in button-through style. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxxi. 198 A new round-necked, sleeveless, button-through dress. |
| 1943 K. Tennant Ride on Stranger ii. 13 Anyway there would be trouble..over the soggy state of her button-up boots. 1951 J. Frame Lagoon 62 To have button-up shoes instead of lace-ups. Ibid. 67 O for button-ups! O for a dress with a cape collar! 1956 A. Miller Memory Two Mondays (1958) 360 He wears a blue button-up sweater. |
† 5. a. intr. Of plants: To bud, put forth buds. Of fruits: To assume the globular shape.
| 1669 Woodhead St. Teresa i. xiv. 88 These Trees begin to button, and bud out towards flouring. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) III. 899 Some [fruit] just beginning to button. |
b. Of broccoli and cauliflowers: To come to a head prematurely.
| 1852 [see buttoning vbl. n.]. 1882 Garden 18 Mar. 187/3 The crop..showing no tendency either to button or run to seed. 1884 Field 12 July 67 Cauliflowers button at an early stage, and are useless. |
6. trans. In fencing: To touch with the button of the foil.
| 1842 Blackw. Mag. LII. 566, I should have buttoned them ten times for every twice they touched me. |
▸
button-down adj. orig. and chiefly
U.S., conventional, conservative; staid; repressed;
cf. buttoned adj. Additions b.
| [1956 Human Organization 14 13 Button-down collar culture: a study of undergraduate life at a men's college.] 1960 B. Newhart Button-down Mind Bob Newhart (title of record) The *button-down mind of Bob Newhart. 1992 Spy (N.Y.) Mar. 21/2 A place that has made a religion of teamwork and button-down sobriety. |