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buttonlike

 - 5 dictionary results

but⋅ton

  [buht-n]
Use buttonlike in a Sentence
–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.
—Idioms
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

Related forms:
but⋅ton⋅er, noun
but⋅ton⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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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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