a device designed to close or open an electric circuit when a button or knob is depressed, and to return to a normal position when it is released.
the button or knob depressed.
operated by or as if by push buttons.
push-button tuning.
using complex, automated weapons, as long-range missiles, that require only simple initial steps to put them into action.
push-button warfare.
an electrical switch operated by pressing a button, which closes or opens a circuit
push-button. (modifier)
operated by a push button
a push-button radio
initiated as simply as by pressing a button
push-button warfare
An Americanism dating back to 1875–80
An Americanism dating back to 1875–80
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Usually older people, they don’t like the push button to start the car,” he said.
From New York Times • Nov. 25, 2021
The Tribest Glass Raw Tea Kettle GKD-450-B lacks a push button on the handle.
From Slate • Oct. 26, 2018
“In ’80, there was no push button, come-rescue-me button.
From Washington Post • Mar. 2, 2017
They strapped her in and showed her how to hit the push button in the toy she would hopefully use for at least three or four years.
From Washington Times • Dec. 19, 2016
It is not necessary to seek in the darkness for a push button or switch, as in ordinary devices, but a light pressure with the palm of the hand will make the lamp glow.
From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.
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.
