BUTTON

button

(noun) a round fastener sewn to shirts and coats etc to fit through buttonholes

button

(noun) any artifact that resembles a button

release, button

(noun) a device that when pressed will release part of a mechanism

clitoris, clit, button

(noun) a female sexual organ homologous to the penis

button

(noun) a round flat badge displaying information and suitable for pinning onto a garment; “they passed out campaign buttons for their candidate”

button

(noun) any of various plant parts that resemble buttons

button

(verb) fasten with buttons; “button the dress”

button

(verb) provide with buttons; “button a shirt”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

---

Etymology 1

Noun

button (plural buttons)

A knob or disc that is passed through a loop or (buttonhole), serving as a fastener. [from the mid-13th c.]

A mechanical device meant to be pressed with a finger in order to open or close an electric circuit or to activate a mechanism.

(graphical user interface) An on-screen control that can be selected as an activator of an attached function.

(US) A badge worn on clothes, fixed with a pin through the fabric.

(botany) A bud.

The head of an unexpanded mushroom.

(slang) The clitoris.

(curling) The center (bullseye) of the house.

(fencing) The soft circular tip at the end of a foil.

(poker) A plastic disk used to represent the person in last position in a poker game; also dealer's button.

(poker) The player who is last to act after the flop, turn and river, who possesses the button.

(archaic) A person who acts as a decoy.

A raised pavement marker to further indicate the presence of a pavement marking painted stripe.

(South Africa, slang) A methaqualone tablet (used as a recreational drug).

A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, such as a door.

A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion.

A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.

A small white blotch on a cat's coat.

(UK, archaic) A unit of length equal to 1/12 inch.

The means for initiating a nuclear strike or similar cataclysmic occurrence.

(lutherie) In an instrument of the violin family, the near-semicircular shape extending from the top of the back plate of the instrument, meeting the heel of the neck.

(lutherie) synonym of endbutton, part of a violin-family instrument.

(lutherie, bowmaking) synonym of adjuster.

The least amount of care or interest; a whit or jot.

(comedy) The final joke at the end of a comedic act (such as a sketch, set, or scene).

(slang) A button man; a professional assassin.

The final segment of a rattlesnake's rattle.

Usage notes

For the senses 2 and 3, a button is often marked by a verb rather than a noun, and the button itself is called with the verb and button. For example, a button to start something is generally called start button.

Hypernyms

• (graphical user interface): widget

Hyponyms

• bachelor's button

• belly button

• billy buttons

• eject button

• fire button

• hot button

• panic button

• power button

• radio button

• red button

• shirt-button

• snooze button

• start button

• stay-button

• tummy button

Etymology 2

Verb

button (third-person singular simple present buttons, present participle buttoning, simple past and past participle buttoned)

(transitive) To fasten with a button. [from the late 14th c.]

(intransitive) To be fastened by a button or buttons.

(informal) To stop talking.

Anagrams

• not but

Proper noun

Button

A surname for a maker or seller of buttons.

Anagrams

• not but

Source: Wiktionary

---

But"ton, n. Etym: [OE. boton, botoun, F. bouton button, bud, prop. something pushing out, fr. bouter to push. See Butt an end.]

1. A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.

2. A catch, of various forms and materials, used to fasten together the different parts of dress, by being attached to one part, and passing through a slit, called a buttonhole, in the other; -- used also for ornament.

3. A bud; a germ of a plant. Shak.

4. A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, as a door.

5. A globule of metal remaining onan assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion. Button hook, a hook for catching a button and drawing it through a buttonhole, as in buttoning boots and gloves.

– Button shell (Zoöl.), a small, univalve marine shell of the genus Rotella.

– Button snakeroot. (Bot.) (a) The American composite genus Liatris, having rounded buttonlike heads of flowers. (b) An American umbelliferous plant with rigid, narrow leaves, and flowers in dense heads.

– Button tree (Bot.), a genus of trees (Conocarpus), furnishing durable timber, mostly natives of the West Indies.

– To hold by the button, to detain in conversation to weariness; to bore; to buttonhole.

But"ton, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Buttoned; p. pr. & vb. n. Buttoning.] Etym: [OE. botonen, OF. botoner, F. boutonner. See Button, n.]

1. To fasten with a button or buttons; to inclose or make secure with buttons; -- often followed by up. He was a tall, fat, long-bodied man, buttoned up to the throat in a tight green coat. Dickens.

2. To dress or clothe. [Obs.] Shak.

But"ton, v. i.

Definition: To be fastened by a button or buttons; as, the coat will not button.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

---