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Synonyms

button up

British  

verb

  1. to fasten (a garment) with a button or buttons

  2. informal to conclude (business) satisfactorily

  3. slang taciturn; silent and somewhat tense

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
button up Idioms  

  1. Close securely, fasten, as in The house was all buttoned up , or Button up your coat—it's very cold . [Late 1500s]

  2. Also, button one's lip . Hold one's tongue, keep quiet. For example, Please button your lip about the surprise . A variant of this usage, button one's mouth , dates from the 17th century. [Mid-1800s]

  3. Finish successfully, as in I've got this report all buttoned up . [c. 1940]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s hard to get buttoned up and take things seriously.

From Los Angeles Times

Taylor wore the coat fully buttoned up, ready to throw it off for a dramatic reveal later in the evening.

From Los Angeles Times

"With the overtake mode, the driver behind can use the boost button up to I think 330km/h, where the guy in the front can only use it to 290km/h," Russell said.

From BBC

Aunt Kitty started up with her tsk-tsking as she fastened the row of buttons up the back, but I would have none of it.

From Literature

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

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.