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• button
  button

  noun

  a small disk, knob, or the like for sewing or otherwise attaching to an article, as of clothing, serving as a fastening when passed through a buttonhole or loop.
• Button
  Button

  noun

  Richard Totten Dick, born 1929, U.S. figure skater.

button

¹ American  

[buht-n] / ˈbʌt n /

noun

• buttons
  plural

1. a small disk, knob, or the like for sewing or otherwise attaching to an article, as of clothing, serving as a fastening when passed through a buttonhole or loop.

2. anything resembling a button, especially in being small and round, as any of various candies, ornaments, tags, identification badges, reflectors, markers, etc.

3. a badge or emblem bearing a name, slogan, identifying figure, etc., for wear on the lapel, dress, etc..

   campaign buttons.

4. any small knob or disk pressed to activate an electric circuit, release a spring, or otherwise operate or open a machine, small door, toy, etc.

5. Botany. a bud or other protuberant part of a plant.

6. Mycology.

   1. a young or undeveloped mushroom.

   2. any protuberant part of a fungus.

7. Zoology. any of various small parts or structures resembling a button, as the rattle at the tip of the tail in a very young rattlesnake.

8. Boxing Informal. the point of the chin.

9. Also called turn button. a fastener for a door, window, etc., having two arms and rotating on a pivot that is attached to the frame.

10. Metallurgy. (in assaying) a small globule or lump of metal at the bottom of a crucible after fusion.

11. Fencing. the protective, blunting knob fixed to the point of a foil.

12. Horology. crown.

13. Computers. (in a graphical user interface) a small, button-shaped or clearly defined area that the user can click on or touch to choose an option.

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verb (used with object)

• buttons,
  present (3rd person singular)
• buttoned,
  past participle,  past
• buttoning
  present participle

1. to fasten with a button or buttons.

   She quickly buttoned her coat.

2. to insert (a button) in a buttonhole or loop.

   He buttoned the top button of his shirt.

3. to provide (something) with a button or buttons.

verb (used without object)

• buttons,
  present (3rd person singular)
• buttoned,
  past participle,  past
• buttoning
  present participle

1. to be capable of being buttoned.

   This coat buttons, but that one zips.

idioms

1. have all one's buttons, to be mentally competent, alert, and sane; have all one's wits.

   At 106 she still has all her buttons.

2. button up,

   1. Also button one's lip. to become or keep silent.

   2. to fasten securely; close up.

      Within a short time, everything on the submarine was buttoned up.

   3. to fasten fully or put on, especially an outer garment.

      Button up before going out.

   4. to complete successfully; finish.

      The report is all buttoned up.

3. on the button, exactly as desired, expected, specified, etc..

   The prediction for snow was right on the button.

Button ² American  

[buht-n] / ˈbʌt n /

noun

1. Richard Totten Dick, born 1929, U.S. figure skater.

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button British  

/ ˈbʌtən /

noun

1. a disc or knob of plastic, wood, etc, attached to a garment, etc, usually for fastening two surfaces together by passing it through a buttonhole or loop

2. a small round object, such as any of various sweets, decorations, or badges

3. a small disc that completes an electric circuit when pushed, as one that operates a doorbell or machine

4. a symbolic representation of a button on the screen of a computer that is notionally depressed by manipulating the mouse to initiate an action

5. biology any rounded knoblike part or organ, such as an unripe mushroom

6. fencing the protective knob fixed to the point of a foil

7. a small amount of metal, usually lead, with which gold or silver is fused, thus concentrating it during assaying

8. the piece of a weld that pulls out during the destructive testing of spot welds

9. rowing a projection around the loom of an oar that prevents it slipping through the rowlock

10. an object of no value (esp in the phrase not worth a button )

11. slang intellect; mental capacity (in such phrases as a button short , to have all one's buttons , etc)

12. informal exactly; precisely

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verb

1. to fasten with a button or buttons

2. (tr) to provide with buttons

3. (tr) fencing to hit (an opponent) with the button of one's foil

4. to stop talking: often imperative

button More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing button

• cute as a button
• have all one's buttons
• on the button
• push (press) someone's buttons
• push the panic button

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• buttoner
  noun
• misbutton
  verb (used with object)
• rebutton
  verb (used with object)
• buttonless
  adjective
• buttonlike
  adjective
• buttony
  adjective
• misbuttoned
  adjective
• well-buttoned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• buttons
  plural

Participles

• buttoning
  present
• buttoned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• button
  simple
• buttons
  simple
• have buttoned
  perfect
• has buttoned
  perfect
• am buttoning
  progressive
• are buttoning
  progressive
• is buttoning
  progressive
• have been buttoning
  perfect progressive
• has been buttoning
  perfect progressive

Past

• buttoned
  simple
• had buttoned
  perfect
• was buttoning
  progressive
• were buttoning
  progressive
• had been buttoning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will button
  simple
• will have buttoned
  perfect
• will be buttoning
  progressive
• will have been buttoning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of button

1275–1325; Middle English boto ( u ) n < Anglo-French: rosehip, button, stud; Middle French boton, equivalent to boter to butt ³ + -on noun suffix

Explanation

A button is a small, flat, round object often found on clothing. It can also describe the round disc you press to turn on an electronic device, like the button you push to turn on your computer. The noun button also can refer to the little round billboards people pin to their clothes to display their favorite political candidate, band, organization, or saying. Button can also be a verb, which describes the act of fastening buttons, like when you button your shirt. Or if you work at an electronics factory, your job might be to button, or attach buttons to, a cell phone.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

button Button buttons buttoned buttoning

Audio firm Taction Technology claimed in 2021 that Apple had infringed two of its patents for haptics systems, which enable vibrations for actions such as receiving a message or pressing a button.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

"We set out to identify cells that push the self-destruct button but survive anyway," Braun explains.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

Andrés Chait hit the reset button with a districtwide message.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

"I think at some stage we need to open the communication channels because, you know, you can't have a conversation if you're pressing the mute button," but "so far there's no timeline for it".

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

A man emerged at the doorway in nothing but shorts, a bloated belly overhanging the open top where a button used to be.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

The “Lover” singer is known to have a very soft spot for her own pets: three cats, named Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026

Whether that money will buy new jobs or subsidize existing ones is the open question, said Patrick Button, a film and TV tax incentives skeptic and professor of economics at Tulane University.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

For peak-time matches there will be the option of watching games with BBC Radio 5 Live commentary on the Red Button, iPlayer and website.

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

Button won the drivers’ title—and the Brawn team eventually morphed into modern Mercedes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026

So mostly I just vegetate in the basement and pick my navel, to quote Grim, Mr. Belly Button Lint himself.

From "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick

“If they can kind of identify each other, wear the buttons or hand them out to the community, it’s kind of a signal,” she said.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

Her hands shook as she punched the buttons into the safe’s keypad, entering the wrong combination.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

The Five-Pocket Tote has classic denim details such as belt loops, shank buttons and bar tack stitching.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Once everything is in place, Gardner tests the fire — there are buttons he presses with each thumb to ignite the flame.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Bees buzzed around the bachelor’s buttons that brushed up against Aunt Florentine’s hip, but they did not touch her.

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

“It’s an exciting time to come in as we build out the executive team to help guide the next stage and make sure we’re buttoned up for the long haul.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Appearing remotely via video-link wearing a partially buttoned pale blue shirt, Brand, the ex-husband of popstar Katy Perry, only spoke to confirm his name and his date of birth.

From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026

A year after graduating, he began designing menswear at Stirling Copper and was responsible for the body-hugging, buttoned trousers Sir Mick Jagger wore during The Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter tour in 1969.

From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025

A black blazer, a white shirt buttoned to the top, and some manner of ill-fitting pants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2025

Not a single feather remains and Celia is once again wearing a puffed-sleeve black jacket, already buttoned over her black-and-white gown.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Instead of clocking into a cubicle for a traditional 9-to-5 and buttoning corporate uniforms each morning, some new grads are spinning records from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. or writing Substack newsletters from cafes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

It can get worse over time and make daily activities like buttoning a shirt difficult.

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2024

Navalny spent months in a punishment cell for not buttoning his uniform properly or not putting his hands behind his back when required.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024

“Maybe if they need help buttoning their pants, I’ll have them come out of the bathroom and I’ll help them, but that’s it,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2023

It fit me better than I expected, but I paused in the middle of buttoning it.

From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon

Related Words

• dial
• knob
• switch