English

Etymology
Originally buttonhold (a loop of string to hold a button down), but changed by folk etymology by influence of hole; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_etymology|the Wikipedia article on folk etymology

Pronunciation

audio|en-us-buttonhole.ogg|Audio (US)

Noun
en-noun

1. A hole through which a button is pushed to secure a garment or some part of one.
2. context|mostly|UK a flower worn in a buttonhole for decoration

Synonyms
italbrac|flower worn in the buttonhole for decoration: boutonniere

Translations
trans-top|hole for a button
Dutch: knoopsgat n
Esperanto: butontruo
French: boutonnière f
trans-mid
Hebrew: ��ר �פת�ר ,�ִ�ְקָ�
trans-bottom

trans-top|flower worn in the buttonhole for decoration

trans-mid
trans-bottom

Verb
en-verb|buttonhol|ing

1. To detain (a person) in conversation against their will.
2. rfv-sense slang To grab (a person) by the shirt.

Quotations
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 [...]<!--not necessary: and going around to the Y in the evenings and to the ballfields on Sundays and to the local stores during the week, shangaiing the able-bodied from among the neighbourhood's grown men so as to bring to a total of three on each blocka squad they could count on in an emergency.--> &mdash; w:Philip Roth|Philip Roth, "w:The Plot Against America|The Plot Against America" (2004)
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004291.html

Synonyms
italbrac|detain (a person) in conversation against their will: accost, waylay

Derived terms
buttonholer<!--attachment on a sewing machine for making buttonholes-->

gl:buttonhole
io:buttonhole
te:buttonhole
vi:buttonhole
zh:buttonhole

• 2007-10-28 16:19 - AutoFormat - trans unlink Esperanto

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