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buttonhole

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but⋅ton⋅hole

  [buht-n-hohl] noun, verb, -holed, -hol⋅ing.
Use buttonhole in a Sentence
–noun
1. the hole, slit, or loop through which a button is passed and by which it is secured.
2. Chiefly British. a boutonniere.
3. Surgery. a short, straight incision through the wall of a cavity or a canal.
–verb (used with object)
4. to sew with a buttonhole stitch.
5. to make buttonholes in.
6. 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.
Origin:
1555–65; button + hole

Related forms:
but⋅ton⋅hol⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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but·ton·hole   (bŭt'n-hōl')   
n.  

  1. A small slit in a garment or piece of fabric for fastening a button.

  2. Chiefly British A boutonniere.

v.   tr. but·ton·holed, but·ton·hol·ing, but·ton·holes

  1. To make a buttonhole in.

  2. To sew with a buttonhole stitch.

  3. To accost and detain (a person) in conversation by or as if by grasping the person's outer garments: "He was also frequently buttonholed by White House lobbyists . . . who seemed to be permanently assigned to shadow the burly Democrat" (Terence Moran).


[V., sense 3, probably alteration of button-hold.]
but'ton·hol'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
buttonhole

  1. tv.
    to accost someone; to make someone listen to one. (As if grabbing someone by the coat lapel to keep them from getting away.) : The guy buttonholed me on my way out, and started asking me a lot of questions.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Medical Dictionary

buttonhole but·ton·hole (bŭt'n-hōl')
n.

  1. A short straight surgical cut made through the wall of a cavity or canal.

  2. The contraction of an orifice down to a narrow slit, as in mitral stenosis.

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