Buttonhole

Pronunciation

Origin

Originally buttonhold (a loop of string to hold a button down), but changed by folk etymology by influence of hole; see Folk_etymology

Full definition of buttonhole

Noun

1. A hole through which a button is pushed to secure a garment or some part of one.
2. (chiefly British) a flower worn in a buttonhole for decoration

Synonyms

• flower worn in the buttonhole for decoration: boutonniere

Verb

1. To detain (a person) in conversation against their will.
• Here they are, the brainless few we had been raised to pity and fear, the Stone Age oafs and the seething runts and the ominous, swaggering weightlifters, buttonholing kids like me out on Chancellor Avenue and telling us to keep our baseball bats at the ready in case we were called in the night to take to the streets ... — Philip Roth, "" (2004)
• http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004291.html

Synonyms

• detain (a person) in conversation against their will: accost, waylay

Derived terms

• buttonholer