button

button knoblike appendage used on wearing apparel either for ornament or for fastening. Although buttons were sometimes used as fasteners by Greeks and Romans, they were more often merely ornamental disks. They first became widely used when fitted garments came into use in the 13th cent., and their popularity has varied with the changes in fashion. In the 16th cent. they were magnificent and were classed among the vanities; made of silver or gold and jeweled, they were often set in a long row touching one another. In the 17th cent. cloth-covered buttons with embroidered decoration were popular; buttons appeared on everything, even handkerchiefs. The Puritans, considering buttons a vanity, used hooks and eyes. Early settlers in North America often used buttons in trading with the indigenous peoples. The manufacture of buttons began in the United States c.1826. Buttons, originally made of bronze or bone, have also been made of materials such as metal, porcelain, paste, wood, ivory, horn, pearl, glass, and plastic. There are two main types, those made with holes and those with shanks. The latter have a loop of metal let in through a hole or soldered into place.

Bibliography: See D. Epstein and M. Safro, Buttons (1991); D. J. Wisniewski, Antique & Collectible Buttons (1997).

but·ton / ˈbətn/ • n. a small disk or knob sewn on to a garment, either to fasten it by being pushed through a slit made for the purpose, or for decoration: a blouse with five buttons in front [as adj.] button thread. ∎  a knob on a piece of electrical or electronic equipment that is pressed to operate it. ∎  a badge bearing a design or slogan and pinned to the clothing. ∎  a small, round object resembling a button: chocolate buttons. ∎ Fencing a knob fitted to the point of a foil to make it harmless. • v. [tr.] fasten (clothing) with buttons: he buttoned up his jacket. ∎  [intr.] (of a garment) be fastened with buttons: a dress that buttons down the front. ∎  (button it) [often in imper.] inf. stop talking. PHRASES: button one's lip inf. stop or refrain from talking. on the button inf. punctually: it was nearly visiting hours and she would arrive on the button. ∎  exactly right: his prediction was right on the button in terms of actual rainfall. push (or press) someone's buttons inf. arouse or provoke a reaction in someone: stay cool and don't allow them to push your buttons.PHRASAL VERBS: button something up 1. inf. complete or conclude something satisfactorily: trying to button up a deal. 2. [often as adj.] (buttoned up) repress or contain something: it was repressive enough to keep public opinion buttoned up. DERIVATIVES: but·ton·less adj. but·toned adj. [in comb.] a gold-buttoned blazer.