Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Button?

\But"ton\, n. [OE. boton, botoun, F. bouton button, bud, prop. something pushing out, fr. bouter to push. See {Butt} an end.] 1. A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass. 2. A catch, of various forms and materials, used to fasten together the different parts of dress, by being attached to one part, and passing through a slit, called a buttonhole, in the other; -- used also for ornament. 3. A bud; a germ of a plant. --Shak. 4. A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, as a door. 5. A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion. {Button hook}, a hook for catching a button and drawing it through a buttonhole, as in buttoning boots and gloves. {Button shell} (Zo["o]l.), a small, univalve marine shell of the genus {Rotella}. {Button snakeroot}. (Bot.) (a) The American composite genus {Liatris}, having rounded buttonlike heads of flowers. (b) An American umbelliferous plant with rigid, narrow leaves, and flowers in dense heads. {Button tree} (Bot.), a genus of trees ({Conocarpus}), furnishing durable timber, mostly natives of the West Indies. {To hold by the button}, to detain in conversation to weariness; to bore; to buttonhole.
\But"ton\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Buttoned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Buttoning}.] [OE. botonen, OF. botoner, F. boutonner. See {Button}, n.] 1. To fasten with a button or buttons; to inclose or make secure with buttons; -- often followed by up. He was a tall, fat, long-bodied man, buttoned up to the throat in a tight green coat. --Dickens. 2. To dress or clothe. [Obs.] --Shak.
\But"ton\, v. i. To be fastened by a button or buttons; as, the coat will not button.