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buttonholing

  • present participle
    of buttonhole.
    buttonhole
    noun
    the hole, slit, or loop through which a button is passed and by which it is secured.

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

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

Jasna Macanovic, who worked at the QA for 17 years, had raised concerns about the way the trust was allowing some staff to deliver the dialysis technique - known as buttonholing.

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

But even after Mr. Biden and members of his cabinet worked the phones and Ms. Pelosi and her team spent much of Thursday buttonholing lawmakers on the House floor, the votes proved elusive.

From New York Times ● Nov. 4, 2021

Socrates, according to Plato, must have spent a good many hours and days in buttonholing young men on the streets of Athens, and pricking the airy bubbles of the catchwords which they used so glibly.

From The Unpopular Review, Number 19 July-December 1918 by Various