Buttonhole is easy to pin down as a noun referring to the slit or loop through which a button is passed to fasten something, but its shift to a verb meaning "to detain in conversation" requires some explanation. Buttonhole is an alteration of another verb now long out of use: buttonhold, which literally meant to hold on to the buttons or lapels of someone's coat when speaking to him or her. In the mid-19th century, English speakers altered the verb to buttonhole, perhaps as a result of hearing buttonhold as buttonholed. The overlap is apparent in an early instance of this spelling in an 1862 London publication called All Year Round: "The man who is button-holed, or held … and must listen to half an hour's harangue about nothing interesting."

Examples of buttonhole in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Noun

These wares are made in small workshops in Italy and Portugal, where craftspeople infuse them with high-end details such as hand-sewn buttonholes and silk bar tacks, a form of stitching that reinforces seams and pockets. —Aleks Cvetkovic, Robb Report, 26 Jan. 2025

Among a plethora of statement outerwear this season, the shearling coat — done in alpaca — came to the fore as an all-time classic to embrace, which Johnson presented in a mid-length suede version with 3D outlines for patch pockets and buttonholes. —Sandra Salibian, WWD, 21 Jan. 2025 The buttons and buttonholes align and are sturdy, yet discretely hidden under an attractive fold. —WWD, 3 Sep. 2019 Washington — In December 2022, Paul Whelan was sitting in a factory at a Russian labor camp in Mordovia, more than seven hours east of Moscow, adding buttons and buttonholes to winter coats. —Margaret Brennan, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2024 Every shirt in the label’s Gold Line involves 35 hours of detailed handwork, including buttonholes that take 45 minutes of stitching each. —Martin Lerma, Robb Report, 4 Sep. 2024 The paper tags had been removed, but a few plastic fasteners remained, protruding from various buttonholes on his sleeves and chest. —Simon Rich, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024 Place the button in its original position on the fabric, aligning it with the empty buttonholes. —Maryal Miller Carter, USA TODAY, 4 Jan. 2024 Insert the needle through the backside of the fabric, bringing it up through one of the buttonholes. —Maryal Miller Carter, USA TODAY, 4 Jan. 2024

Verb

In the minutes before the vote Tuesday evening, Republican leaders could be seen buttonholing defectors on the House floor, imploring them to support the budget resolution. —Compiled By Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 26 Feb. 2025 Grant encouraged Ross to buttonhole Raoul Fleischmann, who was the heir to a baking fortune yet bored with his lot. —David Remnick, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025 Outside, a vendor buttonholes him to ask about the twins. —Nathan Heller, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2024 He then was buttonholed outside the hotel for his opinion on what happened. —Bruce Haring, Deadline, 13 June 2024 At the late, lamented Toronado tavern, I was buttonholed by a stranger raving about Cellarmaker’s beers. —Peter Rowe, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Mar. 2024 Getting buttonholed didn’t seem to bother Pence, either. —T.a. Frank, Washington Post, 28 June 2023 Califf has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill to discuss President Biden’s budget request for the Food and Drug Administration, and the appearances give lawmakers a chance to buttonhole him on budget items as well as politically explosive issues that have nothing to do with the funding request. —John Wilkerson, STAT, 19 Apr. 2023 The first time she was buttonholed by a consulting firm was freshman year. —Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2023