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on the button

 - 8 dictionary results
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but⋅ton

  [buht-n]
Use on the button 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.
Cite This Source Link To on the button
Trims And Buttons Inc.
Bargain, Best prices online,Buttons Beads,Trims,Crystals,Pearls,Chains
www.buttons4u.com
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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

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

    1. An immature, unexpanded mushroom.

    2. The tip of a rattlesnake's rattle.

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

  6. 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.
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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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on the button

and on the bean
  1. mod.
    exactly the right time or place; exactly the right amount. : He was there on time, right on the button. , That's the correct total. You hit it right on the bean.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
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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Idioms & Phrases

on the button

Exactly right, precisely, as in Her review of the book was right on the button, or We're supposed to be there at six o'clock on the button. This term may come from boxing, where a punch on the button means "a punch on the chin." [Colloquial; c. 1900] Also see on the dot.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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