# button

Pronunciation: say "BUT-uhn" /ˈbʌt.n̩/

## Noun

1. A small mechanical part pressed with a finger to open or close an electric circuit or to set a mechanism in motion.
   - Simple: A small part you press with your finger to make a machine or device work.
   - _He held the button down until the laptop restarted._
   - _The crosswalk buttons at that intersection haven't worked in years._
2. A knob or disk used as a fastener by being slipped through a loop or buttonhole.
   - Simple: A small, hard, round thing on clothes that you push through a hole to keep them closed.
   - _A loose button dangled from the cuff of his shirt._
   - _Vintage coats often have buttons made of carved horn._
3. An on-screen control that can be clicked or tapped to trigger the function attached to it.
   - Simple: A small picture or shape on a screen that you tap or click to make something happen.
   - _Click the Submit button to upload your application._
   - _The designer made the buttons bigger so people could tap them easily on their phones._
5. A badge worn on clothing, attached by a pin pushed through the fabric. *(US)*
   - Simple: A small round badge with a pin on the back that you wear on your clothes.
   - _He pinned a campaign button to his jacket before the rally._
   - _Her backpack was covered in buttons from concerts and protests._
7. The means of initiating a nuclear strike or similar catastrophic event; generally used with 'the.'
   - Simple: The control a leader would press to start a nuclear war. People almost always say 'the button.'
   - _Campaign ads asked whether voters trusted the candidate with his finger on the button._
   - _One misread radar signal could have sent someone reaching for the button during the Cold War._
6. A knob, a small ball, or a small, roundish mass of material.
   - Simple: A small round lump or ball of something.
   - _A button of molten metal cooled at the bottom of the crucible._
   - _The dripping candle left little buttons of wax along the shelf._
9. The head of a mushroom that has not yet expanded.
   - Simple: The round top of a young mushroom before it opens up.
   - _A firm white button holds its shape in cooking better than an open cap._
   - _The forager left the buttons alone so their caps could open and drop spores._
10. The center, or bullseye, of the house: the ringed target area in curling.
   - Simple: In curling, the small circle at the exact center of the target rings.
   - _The skip called for a draw straight to the button._
   - _Their final shot tapped the opposing stone off the button to steal the end._
11. In poker, the disk marking the player in the dealer's position, who acts last in each betting round after the flop; also the player or seat holding it.
   - Simple: In poker, a small disk showing which player deals and acts last, or the player who has it.
   - _The dealer slid the button one seat to the left before dealing the next hand._
   - _Casinos use a weighted button so it doesn't slide off the felt between hands._
12. In comedy and scriptwriting, a final joke or punchy line that closes a sketch, set, or scene.
   - Simple: The last joke or strong line at the end of a comedy act or a scene.
   - _He struggled in the middle of the set but landed the button, and the crowd left happy._
   - _Improv teams are taught to find a button quickly rather than let a scene drag on._
13. The final segment of a rattlesnake's rattle, sitting at the very tip of the tail.
   - Simple: The small piece at the very tip of a rattlesnake's rattle.
   - _A rattlesnake with only a button cannot yet make a rattling sound._
   - _Check for the button at the rattle's tip to tell whether any segments have broken off._
14. A slang term for the clitoris, used in informal and intimate contexts. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A slang name for the clitoris, a small and very sensitive part of a woman's private parts.
   - _He traced slow circles around her button until her breath quickened._
   - _She pressed two fingers against her button through the thin fabric._
15. A flat, usually elongated piece of wood or metal, turning on a nail or screw, used to fasten something such as a door.
   - Simple: A small flat piece of wood or metal that turns on a screw to hold a door shut.
   - _A simple wooden button held the barn door against the wind._
   - _He turned the buttons on the back of the frame and lifted out the photograph._
16. A professional assassin, particularly one carrying out killings on orders for a criminal organization; a button man. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In crime slang, a hired killer who works for a criminal gang.
   - _Word on the street was that he'd worked as a button for the Outfit in the sixties._
   - _The don skipped the negotiation entirely and simply sent two buttons._

## Verb

4. To fasten clothing with a button or buttons, or (of a garment) to be fastened in this way.
   - Simple: To close clothes using buttons, or for clothes to close with buttons.
   - _He paused to button his shirt before answering the door._
   - _The tailor buttoned the jacket to check the fit across the shoulders._
8. To stop talking; to fall silent. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To stop talking and be quiet.
   - _When the heckling continued, the comedian told the crowd to button it._
   - _He buttoned his lip after the lawyer shot him a warning look._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Any amount of concern or interest, however tiny, used in negative phrases such as not care a button.
- (noun) A bud; the rounded, unopened growth from which a flower or leaf develops.
- (noun) A small white blotch on the coat of an otherwise colored cat.
- (noun) A raised pavement marker installed along a painted stripe to make the lane line easier to see and feel.
- (noun) The soft, blunt tip of a fencing foil, which keeps the point from wounding an opponent.
- (noun) The end of a runway.
- (noun) The pedicle, the bony projection on a deer's skull from which an antler grows and to which it attaches.
- (noun) A flattened spherical mass of glass attaching a stem to either its bowl or its foot.
- (noun) The near-semicircular projection at the top of the back plate of a violin-family instrument, where it meets the heel of the neck.
- (noun) The small knob at the lower end of a violin-family instrument that anchors the tailpiece loop; also called the endbutton.
- (noun) The calyx of an orange, the small leafy remnant at the stem end of the fruit.
- (noun) Someone who works with a swindler or seller to lure others in, for example by pretending to be an eager customer or winner.
- (noun) A pill of the sedative methaqualone, taken illegally to get high.
- (noun) A small bead of metal left behind in a crucible or on a cupel once a sample has been melted down during assaying.
- (noun) An old British measure of length equal to one twelfth of an inch.
- (noun) The knob at the frog end of a violin-family bow, turned to tighten or loosen the hair.
- (noun) One of the small separate segments that make up a head of garlic.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–7, 9–16** — Old French boton (Modern French bouton) passed into Middle English as boton or botoun. The French noun came from the verb bouter or boter ("to push, thrust"), which ultimately had a Germanic source. Button is a doublet of Biden and beat.
**Meanings 4, 8** — Middle English had the verb as butonen or botonen, from Old French boutoner, matching the noun botoun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/button (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).