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buttonhole

Pronunciation: /ˈbʌtənˌhoʊl/

The English word “buttonhole” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A hole through which a button is pushed to secure a garment or some part of one.
  2. A flower worn in a buttonhole for decoration.
  3. So shaped that it can be worn on a buttonhole or it is similar to a buttonhole.
  4. A small slotlike cut or incision, made for example by an accident with the scalpel.
  5. The mouth, nose or eyes of a tiny appearance.
  6. The vagina, a coin slot.
  7. The butthole (anus).

verb

  1. To detain (a person) in conversation against their will.
  2. To cut one or more buttonholes (in).
  3. To sew by buttonhole stitch.
  4. To make a small slot-like incision in (intentionally or unintentionally).
  5. To apply a flowery formation in.
  6. To attain buttonhole-like formations on cutting.

Etymology

Originally buttonhold (“a loop of string to hold a button down”), but changed by folk etymology by influence of hole. By surface analysis, button + hole.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.