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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
Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 28 Feb. 2026
So Susan, who had no interest in being widowed by the moon, buttonholed Kraft in his office.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 29 Jan. 2026
As the meeting broke up, one key member of the promotion staff buttonholed me in the hallway.
—Dan Beck, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2025
At a moment of vulnerability, Harper is buttonholed by an old classmate named Sue.
—Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 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 9 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
buttonhole
1 of 2 noun
buttonhole
2 of 2 verb
