button

English Online Dictionary. What means button‎? What does button mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌtən/, [ˈbʌtn̩], [ˈbʌʔ(t̚)n̩], [ˈbʌʔtən], [ˈbʌʔtⁿn̩]
• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /bʌˈt̪ən̪/, /bʊˈt̪oːn̪/, /bɔˈt̪oːn̪/
• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌːʔtən/
• Rhymes: -ʌtən

Etymology 1

From Middle English boton, botoun, from Old French boton (Modern French bouton), from Old French bouter, boter (“to push; thrust”), ultimately from a Germanic language. Doublet of Biden and beat. More at butt.

Noun

button (plural buttons)

2. (clothing) A knob or disc that is passed through a loop or (buttonhole), serving as a fastener. [from mid-13th c.]

4. A mechanical device meant to be pressed with a finger in order to open or close an electric circuit or to activate a mechanism.

5. (graphical user interface) An on-screen control that can be selected as an activator of an attached function.

6. (US) A badge worn on clothes, fixed with a pin through the fabric.

7. (botany) A bud.
8. The calyx of an orange.
   • 1969, Federal Register (volume 34, issues 125-134, page 11315)

     Not well healed, or aggregating more than a circle 14 inch in diameter on a 200 size orange. More than a few adjacent to the "button" at the stem end or more than 6 scattered on other portions of the fruit.

9. The head of an unexpanded mushroom.
10. (slang) The clitoris.
11. (curling) The center (bullseye) of the house.
12. (fencing) The soft circular tip at the end of a foil.
14. (poker) A plastic disk used to represent the person in last position in a poker game; also dealer's button.
15. (poker) The player who is last to act after the flop, turn and river, who possesses the button.
16. (archaic) A person who acts as a decoy.
17. A raised pavement marker to further indicate the presence of a pavement-marking painted stripe.
18. (aviation) The end of a runway.
19. (South Africa, slang) A methaqualone tablet (used as a recreational drug).
20. A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, such as a door.
21. A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion.
22. A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.
23. A small white blotch on a cat's coat.
24. (UK, archaic) A unit of length equal to ¹⁄₁₂ inch.
25. (generally with the) The means for initiating a nuclear strike or similar cataclysmic occurrence.
27. (glassblowing) The oblate spheroidal mass of glass attaching a stem to either its bowl or foot.
28. (lutherie) In an instrument of the violin family, the near-semicircular shape extending from the top of the back plate of the instrument, meeting the heel of the neck.
29. (lutherie) Synonym of endbutton, part of a violin-family instrument.
30. (lutherie, bowmaking) Synonym of adjuster.
31. The least amount of care or interest; a whit or jot.
32. (television) The punchy or suspenseful line of dialogue that concludes a scene.

    Synonym: blow
33. (comedy) The final joke at the end of a comedic act (such as a sketch, set, or scene).
34. (slang) A button man; a professional assassin.
    • 1973, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II (screenplay, second draft)

      FREDO: Mikey, why would they ever hit poor old Frankie Five-Angels? I loved that ole sonuvabitch. I remember when he was just a 'button,' when we were kids.

35. The final segment of a rattlesnake's rattle.
36. (dated, Southern US) A clove (of garlic).
37. (zoology) Pedicle; the attachment point for antlers in cervids.

Usage notes

• For senses 2 and 3, a button is often marked by a verb rather than a noun, and the button itself is named with the verb followed by button. For example, a button to start something is generally called a start button.

Hypernyms

• (graphical user interface): widget

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Descendants

• → German: Button
• → Hindi: बटन (baṭan)
• → Gujarati: બટન (baṭan)
• → Korean: 버튼 (beoteun)
• → Maori: pātene
• → Marathi: बटण (baṭaṇ)
• → Urdu: بَٹَن (baṭan)

Translations

See also

• switch
• toggle
• trigger

Etymology 2

From Middle English butonen, botonen, from the noun (see above).

Verb

button (third-person singular simple present buttons, present participle buttoning, simple past and past participle buttoned)

1. (transitive) To fasten with a button. [from late 14th c.]
2. (intransitive) To be fastened by a button or buttons.

3. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (informal) To stop talking.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• button on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• not but

Middle English

Noun

button

1. Alternative form of botoun