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Showing results for buttonhole. Search instead for buttonhooks.
Definitions

buttonhole

[buht-n-hohl] / ˈbʌt nˌhoʊl /








Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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One I do buttonhole, Robert, a 14-year-old who's just been for a swim, says he loves his fatbike for the freedom it gives him but he has "kept it legal" and doesn't do "stupid" stuff.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026

They relied on Griffin, who utilized her thick Rolodexes and neighborhood connections to buttonhole politicians, community members and others to fight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

They have lunches, meet at conferences, buttonhole departmental women visitors, set up private Facebook pages and Slack channels, and are all over Twitter.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 25, 2022

This opens the floor to everyone who has ideas — not just those with the loudest voices or the chutzpah to buttonhole leaders in passing to pitch their ideas.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2022

When the light beam struck, the eye facing Palmer went from buttonhole slit to orange button; otherwise the bird did not move.

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli

His red coat with black trim, red waistcoat with hand-stitched buttonholes and gold regimental buttons, and white breeches “represent the only complete uniform of the Revolutionary war.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

The golf stories are narrated by the “oldest member” of an upper-class golf club who buttonholes unwary younger members to regale them with his memories of golfers he has known.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2025

David Whelan said his brother must work at least eight hours a day, six days a week, on menial tasks like making buttonholes, which has caused him repetitive strain injury.

From Reuters ● Nov. 3, 2022

This he tailored into surprisingly well-fitting shirts and pants, complete with pockets, belt loops, and properly sewn buttonholes.

From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2022

Mr. Cantor and I took flowers over to the groom and his best man to put in their buttonholes.

From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg

Tegmark buttonholed Elon Musk at a 2014 MIT conference on space, after one of his students asked a question that prompted the billionaire’s now-famous quip that, with AI, “we are summoning the demon.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 4, 2026

So she buttonholed Rubinstien while he was out walking his dog, a pit bull mix named Chubbs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2023

Resident Caroline Aguirre, a retired parole agent, said she buttonholed one courier trying to deliver a bag marked with the name James on it and explained the order wasn’t for her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2023

Behind the scenes, she buttonholed lawmakers in both parties, picking up votes as she made her case.

From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2021

And strangers who followed him about the streets and buttonholed him for unexplainable reasons.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

Jasna Macanovic, who worked at the QA for 17 years, had raised concerns about the way the trust was allowing some staff to deliver the dialysis technique - known as buttonholing.

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2024

Then Mr. Traum tried buttonholing people on the street.

From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2024

A young William Boeing showed up day after day, buttonholing every pilot he could for a skyride.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2023

Netanyahu continued the efforts until the last moment, according to reports from the chamber, buttonholing individual members overnight as the voting continued on more than 700 individual provisions.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2021

This figure shows also the two usual ways of making firm the raw edges in cut work—the square shape is bound by an overcast stitch, and the round one by buttonholing.

From Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving by Grace Christie




Vocabulary lists containing buttonhole


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