buttonhole
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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buttonholes,
present (3rd person singular)
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buttonholed,
past participle, past
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buttonholing
present participle
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to sew with a buttonhole stitch.
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to make buttonholes in.
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to hold by the buttonhole or otherwise abruptly detain (someone) in conversation.
The reporter tried to buttonhole the mayor for a statement on the bus strike.
noun
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a slit in a garment, etc, through which a button is passed to fasten two surfaces together
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US name: boutonniere. a flower or small bunch of flowers worn pinned to the lapel or in the buttonhole, esp at weddings, formal dances, etc
verb
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to detain (a person) in conversation
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to make buttonholes in
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to sew with buttonhole stitch
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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buttonholesimple
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buttonholessimple
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have buttonholedperfect
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has buttonholedperfect
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am buttonholingprogressive
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are buttonholingprogressive
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is buttonholingprogressive
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have been buttonholingperfect progressive
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has been buttonholingperfect progressive
Past
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buttonholedsimple
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had buttonholedperfect
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was buttonholingprogressive
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were buttonholingprogressive
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had been buttonholingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of buttonhole
Vocabulary lists containing buttonhole
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.
See Examples For:
They relied on Griffin, who utilized her thick Rolodexes and neighborhood connections to buttonhole politicians, community members and others to fight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
"Since I was born I have never experienced stable power supply. We call ourselves the giant of Africa but we can't fix electricity," complains Mr Adah as he works on a buttonhole.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2023
They have lunches, meet at conferences, buttonhole departmental women visitors, set up private Facebook pages and Slack channels, and are all over Twitter.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 25, 2022
This opens the floor to everyone who has ideas — not just those with the loudest voices or the chutzpah to buttonhole leaders in passing to pitch their ideas.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2022
In anticipation of victory, he had broken his strict mourning and placed a red rose in the buttonhole of his lapel.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
His red coat with black trim, red waistcoat with hand-stitched buttonholes and gold regimental buttons, and white breeches “represent the only complete uniform of the Revolutionary war.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
The golf stories are narrated by the “oldest member” of an upper-class golf club who buttonholes unwary younger members to regale them with his memories of golfers he has known.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025
David Whelan said his brother must work at least eight hours a day, six days a week, on menial tasks like making buttonholes, which has caused him repetitive strain injury.
From Reuters ● Nov. 3, 2022
This he tailored into surprisingly well-fitting shirts and pants, complete with pockets, belt loops, and properly sewn buttonholes.
From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2022
Moon Orchid tugged at the first shirt for half an hour, and she folded it crooked, the buttonholes not lined up with the buttons at all.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
Clare buttonholed Archer and, according to his own account, the would-be candidate burst into tears and asked that the story be quashed.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Tegmark buttonholed Elon Musk at a 2014 MIT conference on space, after one of his students asked a question that prompted the billionaire’s now-famous quip that, with AI, “we are summoning the demon.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 4, 2026
Resident Caroline Aguirre, a retired parole agent, said she buttonholed one courier trying to deliver a bag marked with the name James on it and explained the order wasn’t for her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
In one city in the region, Denain, a woman buttonholed him on a campaign stop with strong criticism about his presidency, his handling of the pandemic and schools.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2022
Only a few weeks previously, Weaver confided, Fosdick had been buttonholed at a benefit dinner by Dave Hennen Morris, a wealthy former ambassador to Belgium and a board member of the Research Corporation.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Its tone and rhythms are oracular and epic, as if some ancient prophet is buttonholing you to tell you how the world has always been and will always be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The trust acknowledged that Dr Sangala and Ms Kattenhorn were supportive of the buttonholing technique and had spoken about it at national and international conferences.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2024
A young William Boeing showed up day after day, buttonholing every pilot he could for a skyride.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2023
Netanyahu continued the efforts until the last moment, according to reports from the chamber, buttonholing individual members overnight as the voting continued on more than 700 individual provisions.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2021
He enjoyed buttonholing people he met in our "graveyard" and pointing out where they "must shortly lie."
From Memories and Anecdotes by Kate Sanborn
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.
