| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| buttonhole |
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| SYLLABICATION: | but·ton·hole |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  b t n-h l |
| NOUN: | 1. A small slit in a garment or piece of fabric for fastening a button. 2. Chiefly British A boutonniere. | | TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: but·ton·holed, but·ton·hol·ing, but·ton·holes
1. To make a buttonhole in. 2. To sew with a buttonhole stitch. 3. To accost and detain (a person) in conversation by or as if by grasping the person's outer garments: “He was also frequently buttonholed by White House lobbyists . . . who seemed to be permanently assigned to shadow the burly Democrat” (Terence Moran). | | ETYMOLOGY: | V., sense 3, probably alteration of button-hold. | | OTHER FORMS: | button·holer —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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