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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

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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

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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

Players can now freely control the camera, and this time Link can jump with the press of a button.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

The “sparkle” icon was at the vanguard of this trend, a magical-looking diamond that suggested something incredible was behind the door if you just clicked that button.

From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026

The discovery comes from a University of Florida study investigating bacterial blotch, a persistent disease that damages white button mushrooms and causes significant financial losses for growers.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

I pressed the start button on the right handlebar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

He also put a button behind the counter in the shop and one in each workbench as well as beneath the windows in Tante Jans’s rooms.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

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

“Despite the goal with these incentives being to attract filmmaking and lead to economic stimulus, that’s not materialized in the data,” Button said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026

The spooky inhabitants of the mansion, Button House, come from a variety of historial periods, ranging from prehistoric man right through to the modern day.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026

Jim Button was motherless, too—and all you found in fairy tales were wicked stepmothers; heartless, jealous stepmothers...the list could go on forever.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

The automaker doesn’t just name new cars, but everything from buildings on its properties to new buttons and switches inside its latest models, Hauman said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

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

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Watch the mushrooms more than the clock; a mix containing oyster mushrooms behaves differently than a pan full of white buttons.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026

Darth Vader sports useless tape recorder-style buttons on his chest plate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

The spell whizzed right at the witch, and the thread holding one of his silver jacket buttons came undone.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

Traditionally Coke would have buttoned up term sheets before showing off new drinks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 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

He gets a lot of credit for bringing personality to a very buttoned up and scripted media.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025

He unbuttoned the top button, then buttoned it again and checked himself out one more time.

From "Miracle's Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson

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

“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

We first hear the song as Tony is getting ready to go out, blow-drying his hair, trying on various gold chains and meticulously buttoning his best dress shirt.

From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2022

She girds herself for the interrogation; taking a few deep breaths — decisive, metallic — and buttoning her jacket as if it might shield her from danger.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2022

But he went to his room and came out buttoning a clean one.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

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Related Words

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