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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
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
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
See All Example Sentences for buttonhole
Cite this Entry
“Buttonhole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/buttonhole. Accessed 29 Mar. 2025.
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buttonhole
1 of 2 noun
buttonhole
2 of 2 verb
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