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buttoner

 - 6 dictionary results

but⋅ton

[buht-n]
–noun
1. a small disk, knob, or the like for sewing or otherwise attaching to an article, as of clothing, serving as a fastening when passed through a buttonhole or loop.
2. anything resembling a button, esp. in being small and round, as any of various candies, ornaments, tags, identification badges, reflectors, markers, etc.
3. a badge or emblem bearing a name, slogan, identifying figure, etc., for wear on the lapel, dress, etc.: campaign buttons.
4. any small knob or disk pressed to activate an electric circuit, release a spring, or otherwise operate or open a machine, small door, toy, etc.
5. Botany. a bud or other protuberant part of a plant.
6. Mycology.
a. a young or undeveloped mushroom.
b. any protuberant part of a fungus.
7. Zoology. any of various small parts or structures resembling a button, as the rattle at the tip of the tail in a very young rattlesnake.
8. Boxing Informal. the point of the chin.
9. Also called turn button. a fastener for a door, window, etc., having two arms and rotating on a pivot that is attached to the frame.
10. Metallurgy. (in assaying) a small globule or lump of metal at the bottom of a crucible after fusion.
11. Fencing. the protective, blunting knob fixed to the point of a foil.
12. Horology. crown (def. 19).
13. Computers. (in a graphical user interface) any of the small, labeled areas upon which the user can click with a mouse to choose an option.
–verb (used with object)
14. to fasten with a button or buttons: She quickly buttoned her coat.
15. to insert (a button) in a buttonhole or loop: He buttoned the top button of his shirt.
16. to provide (something) with a button or buttons.
–verb (used without object)
17. to be capable of being buttoned: This coat buttons, but that one zips.
18. button up, Informal.
a. Also, button one's lip. to become or keep silent.
b. to fasten securely; close up: Within a short time, everything on the submarine was buttoned up.
c. to fasten fully or put on, esp. an outer garment: Button up before going out.
d. to complete successfully; finish: The report is all buttoned up.
19. have all one's buttons, Informal. to be mentally competent, alert, and sane; have all one's wits: At 106 she still has all her buttons.
20. on the button, Informal. exactly as desired, expected, specified, etc.: The prediction for snow was right on the button.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME boto(u)n < AF: rosehip, button, stud; MF boton, equiv. to boter to butt 3 + -on n. suffix


but⋅ton⋅er, noun
but⋅ton⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To buttoner
but·ton   (bŭt'n)   
n.  
    1. A generally disk-shaped fastener used to join two parts of a garment by fitting through a buttonhole or loop.

    2. Such an object used for decoration.

    3. A push-button switch.

    4. The blunt tip of a fencing foil.

    5. A fused metal or glass globule.

    6. In graphical user interface systems, a well-defined area within the interface that is clicked to select a command.

    7. In a hypertext database, an icon that when selected allows a user to view a particular associated object.

    8. An immature, unexpanded mushroom.

    9. The tip of a rattlesnake's rattle.

  1. Any of various objects resembling a button, especially:

    1. A push-button switch.

    2. The blunt tip of a fencing foil.

    3. A fused metal or glass globule.

    4. In graphical user interface systems, a well-defined area within the interface that is clicked to select a command.

    5. In a hypertext database, an icon that when selected allows a user to view a particular associated object.

    6. An immature, unexpanded mushroom.

    7. The tip of a rattlesnake's rattle.

  2. Computer Science

    1. In graphical user interface systems, a well-defined area within the interface that is clicked to select a command.

    2. In a hypertext database, an icon that when selected allows a user to view a particular associated object.

    3. An immature, unexpanded mushroom.

    4. The tip of a rattlesnake's rattle.

  3. Any of various knoblike structures of a plant or animal, especially:

    1. An immature, unexpanded mushroom.

    2. The tip of a rattlesnake's rattle.

  4. A usually round flat badge that bears a design or printed information and is typically pinned to a garment: a campaign button.

  5. Informal The end of the chin, regarded as the point of impact for a punch.

v.   but·toned, but·ton·ing, but·tons

v.   tr.
  1. To fasten with buttons: buttoned his shirt; buttoned up her raincoat.

  2. To decorate or furnish with buttons.

  3. Informal To close (the lips or mouth): Button your lip.

v.   intr.
To be or be capable of being fastened with buttons: The blouse buttons up the back.
Phrasal Verb(s):
button up
  1. To fasten one's clothing tightly, as against cold weather.

  2. To close or seal securely: button up the cabin for winter.

  3. To complete the final details of: "Publication is a couple of months off; they're just buttoning up paperback rights" (Donald Dale Jackson).


Idiom(s):
on the buttonExactly; precisely.

[Middle English, from Old French bouton, from bouter, to thrust, of Germanic origin; see bhau- in Indo-European roots.]
but'ton·er n., but'ton·y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
button

  1. n.
    the termination of a recitation; the punch line of a joke; a zinger. (The equivalent of a button punched to signal a response.) : When I got to the button, I realized that I had told the whole joke wrong.
  2. n.
    a police officer's badge or shield. : The guy flashed his button, so I let him in.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

button 
1265, from O.Fr. bouton, boton "a button, bud," from bouter, boter "to thrust" (see butt (v.)). Thus a button is, etymologically, something that pushes up, or thrusts out. Button-hole (n.) is from 1561; the verb is from 1862, an alteration of button-hold (1834) "to catch someone by the button and hold him in conversation against his will."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: but·ton
Pronunciation: 'b&t-&n
Function: noun
: something that resembles a small knob or disk: as a : the terminal segment of a rattlesnake's rattle b : COTYLEDON 1
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

button but·ton (bŭt'n)
n.
A knob-like structure, device, or lesion.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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