buttonholen.
/ˈbʌtnhəʊl/, U.S. /ˈbətnˌ(h)oʊl/ 1.
a. A small slit in a garment (or other fabric item) through which a button is passed as a fastening.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > fastenings > button > hole
buttonhole1534
1534 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1905) VI. 193 Item, for rubanis to the buttoun holis of it [sc. a doublet] vj d.
1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda 1st Bk. Hist. Discouerie E. Indias xvii. f. 44 A iacket of fine cotten, ye buttons wherof were of great pearle, & the butten holes were of gold threed.
1650 J. Tatham Ostella 104 My Buttons and my Button-holes are firm.
1685 London Gaz. No. 2094/4 One sad-coloured Cloth Sute with Gold Buttons and Button-holes.
1713 tr. J. Olivier Mem. Life & Adventures Signor Rozelli (ed. 2) App. 343 I should wear for three days a narrow black Ribbon ty'd in the sixth Button-hole of my Coat.
1854 Kenosha (Wisconsin) Times 2 Nov. 1/6 A..coat..with frost buttons, and button-holes edged with gold purl.
1888 J. T. McEnnis White Slaves of Free Amer. iii. 30 As I sewed away at my button-holes she told me her story.
1925 Life 19 Feb. 9/1 The coat sleeves were frayed and the buttonholes hopelessly enlarged.
2007 L. Landvik View from Mount Joy (2008) 76 She jabbed a button through a buttonhole of her shirt.
b. A buttonhole, esp. in the lapel of a coat or jacket, in which a flower, badge, ribbon, etc., is worn, typically as an ornament or to indicate a person's membership of a group or support for a cause. Cf. sense 4.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > coat > parts of > other
ventc1430
buttonhole1709
boot-sleeve1733
brandenburgs1753
scye1830
flash1837
sack-back1854
1709 E. Ward Secret Hist. Clubs xxiii. 259 The Major with an Auricula tuck'd in his Button-hole, as Beautiful and Gay as his Sash and Feather.
1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper I. ii. ix. 114 He always appeared in a military garb, with a bit of red ribbon in his button-hole, to command the respect of the company.
1844 Dublin Univ. Mag. Apr. 442/2 There, sir, are your colours..—fix them to your button-hole.
1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies i. 5 With a pipe in his mouth and a flower in his button-hole.
1892 Chron. (N.Y.) 20 Oct. 208/2 Don't flaunt your politics in your button-hole in business hours. When your work for the day is done, put on your button.
1921 J. Collis Council of Seven xxix. 244 You wore in your buttonhole a small purple disc emblazoned with the Prince of Wales' feathers.
2015 Daily Mirror 21 Dec. 3/3 Frank wore a smart black suit with a white rose in his buttonhole.
2.
a. figurative. A person's eye or mouth regarded as resembling a buttonhole, esp. in being small, narrow, or slit-like.
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the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > small opening
buttonhole1599
snip1600
pinhole1617
pink1667
to pass through the eye of a needle (also a needle's eye)1720
peepa1825
needle-hole1847
keyhole1900
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 47 The raueld button holes of her bleare eyes.
1831 Age 19 June 198/1 She would..let the words glide naturally out of her sweet little button-hole of a mouth.
1862 Temple Bar 4 419 The blonde [doll]..with the little red button-hole of a mouth.
1900 E. H. Blashfield & E. W. Blashfield Ital. Cities II. 12 It is strange that the angels with slits for mouths and button-holes for eyes..should be so very alluring.
1977 J. Hansen Stranger to Himself 135 The fat man made a pink buttonhole of his mouth and tucked his top chin into the lower two.
2003 A. M. Cummins Red Ant House 112 The man's eyes were tiny dark buttonholes in his face.
b. Medicine and Surgery. A slit-like opening in a part of the body, esp. that between the thickened leaflets of a stenotic heart valve. Also: a small, straight surgical incision (often one made unintentionally). Frequently attributive.
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the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > indentation or cavity > [noun] > opening or hole
holea1400
vent1567
perforation1578
mouth1634
foramen1672
ostium1683
stoma1684
buttonhole1753
inlet1828
aditus1839
os1858
hiatus1886
1753 Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 324 Through the above-mention'd button-hole appeared the cellular coat, with which the peritonæum furnishes the spermatic vessels.
1830 London Med. Gaz. 14 Aug. 741/2 If..you were to proceed by making an internal incision, dissecting down, and taking them out, you would find that you would cut through the tarsus, and make a button-hole in the eyelid.
1842 Guy's Hosp. Rep. 7 415 Thus they [sc. vegetations] are commonly found existing..upon the auricular edge of the mitral orifice, where this opening has undergone the state of disease commonly known as ‘button-hole contraction’.
1869 H. J. Bigelow Mechanism Dislocation & Fracture Hip 101 The failure to reduce the limb was attributed by Mr. Symes to a ‘button-hole’ laceration.
1884 B. Bramwell Dis. Heart v. 478 In cases of this description, the orifice, when seen from above, looks like a narrow slit, hence the term button-hole mitral which has been applied to it.
1894 A. H. Buck Ref. Handbk. Med. Sci. (new ed.) II. 502/2 A force that can be tolerated if the tendons of the flexor muscles are in their places will usually be sufficient to dilate the button-hole enough..to reduce the luxation.
1907 Practitioner Oct. 526 Without making a ‘button-hole’ through the mucoperichondrium.
1946 H. T. Hyman Integrated Pract. Med. III. xix. cxxxvii. 2971 Metacarpal shaft driven through joint capsule between flexor tendons (button-hole dislocation).
1987 J. P. H. Neidhardt in J. P. Chevrel Surg. Abdominal Wall i. v. 137/1 We..now tighten each transfixing suture of the abdominal wall through a cutaneous buttonhole which is then closed by a single stitch.
2015 Edge Singapore (Nexis) 11 May The buttonhole technique, or constant site cannulation, has become popular among patients with AV fistulas in recent years.
3. † a. The vagina. Obsolete.In quot. 1600 punning on to take (a person) (down) a buttonhole lower at Phrases.
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the world > life > the body > sex organs > female sex organs > [noun] > vagina
quaintc1330
quivera1382
tailc1390
mousetrapc1500
cunnigar1550
placket1595
buttonhole1600
bumble broth1602
touch-hole1602
case1606
keyhole1607
vagina1612
nicka1625
nunquam satis1633
lock1640
twat1656
cockpit1658
Whitechapel portion?1695
tuzzy-muzzy1710
niche1749
can1772
bumbo1774
fuckhole1893
jelly roll1895
mole-catcher1896
manhole1916
vag1967
stank1980
pum-pum1983
punani1987
1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. D2v If she take me downe, Ile take her vp, yea and take her downe too, a button-hole lower.
?1750 Button Hole Garlang 2 ‘The Button Hole’. I'm a Hole, tho' too narrow, When first I am try'd, Yet the thing I am made for Can stretch me out wide.
1785 Amorous Jester 65 May every good button find a good button-hole.
1896 J. S. Farmer Vocabula Amatoria 45/2 Bouton,..2. The female pudendum; ‘the button-hole’.
1899 How to raise Love 16 The cunt is also known at [sic] the cunny, pussy, cockle-shell, button-hole, etc.
b. The anus.
ΚΠ
1974 W. Keith Meat Force ix. 151 Glen is reaming the tight button hole until it expands and lets the rest of Glen's hot probe all the way in.
2009 Ajoohoo 27 Sept. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Th first pic wasa spread ass up gal on th sofa. Her buttonhole had been used so it was a dark brown.
2016 G. Maynard Born Sinner (e-book, accessed 13 June 2018) Easing my fingers out I replace them with the head of my dick pressing against her buttonhole.
4. Chiefly British. A flower or small spray of flowers worn in the lapel buttonhole or pinned onto the lapel of a coat or jacket. Cf. earlier buttonhole flower n., buttonhole bouquet n. at Compounds 2.In North America boutonnière is the more usual term.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > trimmings or ornamentation > flower(s) for buttonhole
buttonhole flower1855
buttonholer1873
buttonhole1875
boutonnière1877
1875 Gardeners' Chron. 20 Feb. 241/3 The blossoms..are small, and can be worked into bouquets and button-holes.
1903 J. S. Clouston Our Lady's Inn 312 His frock-coat was royally adorned by an unusually large button-hole of white orchid and maiden-hair fern.
1937 Times 10 May 17/6 Lady Zia wore a navy-blue suiting coat and..a large white rose as a buttonhole.
2017 P. Robinson Sleeping in Ground i. 5 The men wore ill-fitting tuxedos with buttonholes, and the women were resplendent in lush cream satin gowns.
Phrases
colloquial. to take (a person) down a buttonhole (or two)and variants: to lower (a person) in status or esteem; to humble or humiliate (a person), esp. one regarded as having an inflated opinion of himself or herself. Similarly to take (a person) (down) a buttonhole lower . Cf. to take (a person) down a peg (or two). Now rare (chiefly U.S. in later use).
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the mind > emotion > humility > humiliation > humiliate [verb (transitive)]
anitherOE
fellOE
lowc1175
to lay lowc1225
to set adownc1275
snuba1340
meekc1350
depose1377
aneantizea1382
to bring lowa1387
declinea1400
meekenc1400
to pull downc1425
avalec1430
to-gradea1440
to put downc1440
humble1484
alow1494
deject?1521
depress1526
plucka1529
to cut (rarely to cast down) the comb of?1533
to bring down1535
to bring basec1540
adbass1548
diminish1560
afflict1561
to take down1562
to throw down1567
debase1569
embase1571
diminute1575
to put (also thrust) a person's nose out of jointc1576
exinanite1577
to take (a person) a peg lower1589
to take (a person) down a peg (or two)1589
disbasea1592
to take (a person) down a buttonhole (or two)1592
comb-cut1593
unpuff1598
atterr1605
dismount1608
annihilate1610
crest-fall1611
demit1611
pulla1616
avilea1617
to put a scorn on, upon1633
mortify1639
dimit1658
to put a person's pipe out1720
to let down1747
to set down1753
humiliate1757
to draw (a person's) eyeteeth1789
start1821
squabash1822
to wipe a person's eye1823
to crop the feathers of1827
embarrass1839
to knock (also take, etc.) (a person) off his or her perch1864
to sit upon ——1864
squelch1864
to cut out of all feather1865
to sit on ——1868
to turn down1870
to score off1882
to do (a person) in the eye1891
puncture1908
to put (a person) in (also into) his, her place1908
to cut down to size1927
flatten1932
to slap (a person) down1938
punk1963
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Huntington Libr. copy) sig. C4 The haire shirt will chase whordome out of their boanes, and the hard lodging on the boards take their flesh downe a button hole lower.
1593 G. Peele Famous Chron. King Edward the First sig. F2v O Frier you grow chollericke, wel yole Haue no man to Court your mislers but your selfe, On my word ile take you downe a botton hole.
a1641 T. Heywood & W. Rowley Fortune by Land & Sea (1655) ii. i. 18 It seems we have got the start of you, for being but a servant you are taken a button-hole lower.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin I. iv. 47 Better mind yerselves, or I'll take ye down a button-hole lower.
1886 Royal Cornwall Gaz. 30 Apr. 5/4 A few of the rank and file (excuse the ordinary expression) have been taken down a button-hole... Some of them used to wear their noses high.
1930 Z. N. Hurston De Turkey & de Law (typescript, Libr. of Congr.) 12 Ah'll stop long enough to take you down a button-hole lower. (He..finds a seat and draws it up to the card table).
1956 Washington Post 9 May 14/4 If and when any group..tends to get too big for its britches, we should not hesitate to take it down a buttonhole or two.
Compounds
C1.
a. attributive. Designating tools and implements used for making buttonholes, as buttonhole scissors, buttonhole shears, etc. Also objective, as buttonhole cutter, buttonhole puncher, etc.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > [noun] > equipment > scissors
buttonhole scissors1831
cutting-out scissors1873
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > [noun] > equipment > other
tagging iron1436
shaping board1442
lay-board1790
finding1856
tailor's chalk1881
tracing-wheel1894
buttonhole cutter1966
1793 Proc. Old Bailey 20 Dec. 344/1 Robert Berry was indicted for feloniously stealing..a button hole chissell.
1831 Scotsman 10 Dec. Ladies' fine and common scissors, in great variety; nail scissors; button-hole scissors; tailors' scissors.
1891 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 23/3 Put the point of your buttonhole shears in the centre of each square.
1895 Leicester Chron. & Leics. Mercury 12 Oct. 1/5 (advt.) Buttonhole puncher and scolloping machine.
1918 M. W. Russell Compl. Sewing Instr. 20 The strictly tailored buttonhole has the round opening on front; this has to be made with a buttonhole punch.
1966 P. W. Schwebke & M. B. Krohn How to sew Leather, Suede, Fur vi. 36/2 Some buttonhole cutters cut the eyelet and the opening in one operation.
2010 N. Zieman Nancy's Favorite 101 Notions 18/2 Use buttonhole scissors to cut uniform buttonholes on light or medium weight fabrics.
b. Similative, with the sense ‘resembling or suggestive of a buttonhole, esp. in being small, narrow, or slit-like’, as buttonhole eye, buttonhole mouth, etc.Considered offensive when used to indicate racial characteristics.
ΚΠ
1838 New Monthly Mag. June 247 A button-hole mouth to be found at the beauty-mongers.
1852 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 341/2 The people of Tibet are of the great Mongolian family, and exhibit its characters..—platter face, with prominent cheek-bones, button-hole eyes.
1859 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 14 Apr. in French & Ital. Notebks. (1980) vi. 517 The eyes are well opened, most unlike the button-hole lids of the de Medici [statue].
1907 J. F. Fraser Red Russia xxi. 266 If your acquaintance with the East is casual, you might mutter ‘Japanese’—there are the same ugly faces, coffee complexions, buttonhole eyes. These are Tartars, Cossacks, Kalmuks, Kirghees.
1920 N.Y. Times 12 Sept. iii. 7/5 The New Yorker, so open..heretofore..now wears..the buttonhole eye when he greets the friend who has ‘just dropped in to say hullo’.
1962 J. Lauritzen Everlasting Fire xii. 150 ‘Hey-y-y-y!’ She breathed out slowly through round, red, buttonhole lips.
2013 C. McCarry Shanghai Factor xiii. 89 A stocky, plain young woman with china-doll bangs and buttonhole eyes..introduced herself as Sun Huan.
c. attributive, with the sense ‘worn in or designed to be attached to a (lapel) buttonhole’, as buttonhole rose, buttonhole light, buttonhole camera, etc. See also buttonhole flower n., buttonhole bouquet n. at Compounds 2.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > electric light > [noun] > worn as reading-aid
buttonhole light1919
1848 J. Richardson Trav. Sahara II. xxi. 180 The Chinese have their peacock's feather as a set-off against our button-hole ribbon.
1878 University Mag. (Dublin) Feb. 184/2 A fine man, who affected style, had an inveterate tendency to lavender kid gloves and button-hole roses.
1894 Weekly Standard & Express (Blackburn) 27 Jan. 8/2 I have not yet seen, outside London, the button-hole globes of electric light worn by the 'bus ticket collectors.
1919 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Standard Telegram 15 Oct. 20/6 Button hole light late innovation. One of the latest innovations in the..flashlight is the one which fits in your coat lapel.
1955 Observer 13 Nov. 8/3 Their new, complete portable transmitting apparatus with the buttonhole microphone which obviates the trailing wires or the impudent stick.
1993 T. Burns Use of Memory viii. 81 A tall blind young man with a Nazi buttonhole badge.
2007 D. Baldacci Stone Cold (2017) 344 Finn strolled around the lab, surreptitiously taking pictures with his buttonhole camera.
C2.
buttonhole bouquet n. now rare a small spray of flowers worn in the lapel buttonhole or pinned onto the lapel of a coat or jacket; cf. sense 4.
ΚΠ
1858 Chambers's Jrnl. 6 Mar. 169/1 A button-hole bouquet of geranium and jessamine tied up with blue ribbon.
1895 ‘M. Corelli’ Sorrows of Satan xxv. 298 Men with white button-hole bouquets in their irreproachably fitting frock-coats.
1930 Washington Post 19 Jan. ii. 3/2 Committee members, brave in long-tailed coats, white gloves and buttonhole bouquets.
1994 Laurel (Mississippi) Leader-Call 3 Mar. 5- b/2 In his satin lapel, he wore a buttonhole bouquet plucked from the bride's bouquet.
buttonhole flower n. a flower worn in the lapel buttonhole or pinned onto the lapel of a coat or jacket; cf. sense 4.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > trimmings or ornamentation > flower(s) for buttonhole
buttonhole flower1855
buttonholer1873
buttonhole1875
boutonnière1877
1855 Househ. Words 18 Aug. 55/2 There are poor men's flowers..; button-hole flowers..; nay, some enthusiasts..go so far as to stick flowers, in slits, in their ears.
1938 Washington Post 22 May 10/7 Carnations are, perhaps, the nearest to the perfect buttonhole flower.
2010 D. Ulliott Devilfish (2011) vi. 80 A wedding party..—the men in suits with buttonhole flowers and the women in their best frocks.
buttonhole gimp n. a type of firm, thick thread or thin cord used for reinforcing the edges of a buttonhole.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > ornamental textiles > ornamental trimmings > [noun] > gimp > specific
guipure1864
buttonhole gimp1879
1879 Trades' Guide for Midland Counties 99/1 Dress cords of every description, button hole gimps, wire pipeings, &c.
1882 World of Fashion 14 Oct. 15/1 The plush is headed by a foliage embroidered alternately in buttonhole gimp and chenille cord.
1969 Grit (U.S.) 3 Aug. 20/3 Buttonhole gimp is a narrow, cordlike thread... It pads the buttonhole and adds strength for a professional look.
2015 R. Cabrera & D. Antoine Classic Tailoring Techniques for Menswear (ed. 2) vi. 199 Cut a length of buttonhole gimp, about three times the length of your buttonhole.
button-hole hand n. now historical and rare a person employed to make buttonholes.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > [noun] > carrying out specific processes > other > one who
presser1549
button-hole hand1858
fitter1858
buttonholer1860
buttoner1863
topper1884
1858 Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper 20 June 10/4 (advt.) Good button hole hands wanted, for shirt collar trade.
1890 Fortn. Rev. Apr. 548 The button-hole hand who..made four button-holes in thirteen and a half minutes, was certainly a quick needle-woman.
1908 Daily Chron. 13 June 9/6 Tailoring.—Wanted button-hole hand for coats and vests.
1951 Daily Mirror 19 Dec. 3/2 Mrs. Spencer..had worked as a button-hole hand at Silverman's factory.
buttonhole stitch n. Needlework and Embroidery a type of stitch used for securing and reinforcing a buttonhole or other raw edge, and also as an ornamental embroidery stitch.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > sewing or work sewn > stitch > overcast stitch > buttonhole stitch
buttonhole stitch1829
1829 Young Lady's Bk. 306 Each separate leaf is done with fine glazed cotton, in an elongated button-hole stitch.
1887 Mag. of Art Mar. 152 These threads were worked over with close button-hole stitch.
1931 Washington Post 24 May (Mag. section) 12/3 The armholes, neckline and front edge are finished by very short buttonhole stitches in a darker color than the suit.
2010 L. Stickley Made at Home 24 You will..need a strong thread to secure your buttonhole with buttonhole stitch.
buttonhole twist n. a type of strong thread used for securing and reinforcing the edges of a buttonhole.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun] > silk > for sewing or embroidery
sewing silk1480
silks?a1513
buttonhole twist1840
sewings1844
embroidery silk1851
machine twist1863
tailor's twist1873
horsetail1880
rope1880
twist1890
rope embroidery silk1895
1840 Amer. Farmer 27 May 7/1 Spindles for twisting the silk intended for warp, sewing silk or button hole twist.
1861 N.Y. Herald 28 Feb. 7/2 (advt.) For sale a full and complete assortment of unrivalled buttonhole twist and machine twist.
1939 Manch. Guardian 11 Feb. 10/6 Cut the opening for the buttonhole..and work the silk buttonhole twist over the lines of machining.
2009 R. Anderson Bespoke 29 For a suit with a button fly, a full yard and a half of buttonhole twist.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
buttonholev.
/ˈbʌtnhəʊl/, U.S. /ˈbətnˌ(h)oʊl/ 1. transitive. To accost (a person) and detain him or her in conversation as if by taking hold of a buttonhole on his or her clothing. Cf. slightly earlier button-hold v.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > utter in a chattering manner [verb (transitive)] > talk excessively to
word1602
to take (also seize, etc.) (a person) by the button1710
button-hold1838
buttonhole1848
to bend a person's ear1938
ear-bash1944
1848 N.-Y. Evangelist 17 Aug. 129/7 They can see a member enter the gate, and by hurrying down stairs, button-hole him ere he enters the capitol.
1862 All Year Round 7 381 The man who is button-holed, or held, poor wretch! and must listen to half an hour's harangue about nothing interesting.
1894 Atchison (Kansas) Daily Globe 13 Sept. 1/1 Candidates were busy buttonholeing delegates.
1918 Photogr. Jrnl. Amer. Aug. 354/1 That over-strung..individual..would be constantly buttonholing you to come and hear his opinion on all and sundry.
1953 Encounter Oct. 58/2 Scientists were free to..publish their findings, talk about them to colleagues (or to anyone else they could buttonhole).
2007 S. Sartarelli tr. A. Camilleri Dance Of Seagull 207 A TV reporter tried to buttonhole him, but he told him to go to hell..and drove off.
2. † a. intransitive. To make buttonholes in a garment. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > sew or ornament textile fabric [verb (intransitive)] > sew > in specific way
hem1530
thimble1834
buttonhole1851
to stitch away1853
purfle1890
prick-stitch1933
zigzag1950
1851 Gleason's Pict. Drawing-room Compan. 18 Oct. 391/3 There's a poor woman stitching and sewing, and pressing, and button-holing, to earn her fifty or seventy-five cents.
1868 ‘H. Lee’ Basil Godfrey's Caprice xli. 224 Thou are the best of good company, sweetheart, whether button-holing and embroidering or not.
1872 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 31 Aug. 16/2 In almost every window on both first and second floor, we saw women and children, and in two instances, men busy button-holing.
1889 Sunday Mag. 120/1 A middle-aged woman..so ‘perished’ with cold that she could scarcely ply the needle and thread with which she was ‘buttonholing’ for the ‘slop’ shirt trade.
b. transitive. To make a buttonhole or buttonholes in (a garment, collar, etc.).
ΚΠ
1864 Children's Employm. Comm. (1862): 2nd Rep. App. 42/2 in Parl. Papers XXII. 1 One person to whom we give out shirts to be button-holed employs girls.
1885 Eastward-ho! June 128 The poor sempstress..is slop-shirt making, and button-holing cuffs and collars.
1908 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 377 Buttonholing shirts with 14 buttonholes in each is paid 1s. a dozen.
1965 Jrnl. (Apparel Res. Found.) Winter 27/2 The Singer Company has developed a three-headed unit for buttonholing shirts, dresses or sportswear.
2003 M. Ali Brick Lane viii. 153 Chanu would not know how many linings she had sewn or how many jackets she had button-holed.
3. transitive. Needlework and Embroidery. To sew (something) with buttonhole stitch (buttonhole stitch n. at buttonhole n. Compounds 2). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > sewing or ornamenting textile fabric > sew or ornament textile fabric [verb (transitive)] > sew > oversew > in specific way
overcast1819
buttonhole1852
1852 New Monthly Belle Assemblée Mar. 150/1 The outlines of the other petals do not require to be button-holed, as in the barred Brussels lace.
1882 Cassell's Family Mag. 44/2 Penwipers made of circles of cloth, covered at the top with one of kid, button-holed round with silk.
1908 K. E. Barrett Wide Awake Girls viii. 140 Hannah spent long hours button-holing towel edges for Frau Marie.
1916 Wisconsin Circular Nov. 23 Make three bars across this end of the buttonhole... Sometimes the bar is buttonholed to give a tailored appearance.
1953 Times of India 30 Aug. (Sunday Mag. section) p. i/3 If you are buttonholing the edge of a piece of embroidery, machine round the outside line of the buttonhole design.
4.
a. transitive. Medicine. To make a slit or slits in (a bandage, dressing, etc.). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > making holes or becoming holed > make (an opening or hole) [verb (transitive)] > make an opening or hole in or into > small
eyelet-hole1747
eyelet1832
eye1842
buttonhole1862
1862 Edinb. Med. Jrnl. 7 703 He applies over the eye a pledget of lint.., securing it in its place by a small rag ingeniously buttonholed, and slipped over the patient's ears.
1887 J. A. Wyeth Text-bk. Surg. iv. 52 A strip of sublimate gauze about two inches wide is button-holed, so as to fit over each of the tubes.
1908 Practitioner Oct. 522 The hand is kept in that position..by long strips of adhesive plaster..; these are button-holed over the knuckles to adapt themselves to them.
1931 C. B. Heald Injuries & Sport ii. x. 180 A square of adhesive strapping is ‘button-holed’ and fixed to the skin..and a bandage is passed under the elbow and through the button-hole.
b. transitive. Surgery. To make a small straight incision in (a part of the body), often unintentionally.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > incision > make an incision in or cut [verb (transitive)] > make small incisions in > make buttonhole incision in
buttonhole1878
1878 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. 75 270 Care being taken..to keep the edge of the knife close to the cartilages, so as to avoid button-holing the gullet.
1885 Gaillard's Med. Jrnl. 40 445 The procedure of button-holing the urethra in order to draw out and cut off the thickened mucous membrane.
1907 Practitioner Oct. 530 It may seem impossible to strip off the muco-chondrium without buttonholing it.
1964 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 14) xxvii. 423 The dissection is made by sharp-pointed scissors in the subconjunctival tissue..care being taken to avoid button-holing the flap.
2014 Oral & Maxillofacial Surg. Clinics North Amer. 26 386/1 Keeping the vascular pedicle intact, and carefully maintaining the dissection planes without buttonholing the muscle help ensure flap survival.
ΚΠ
1927 W. Deeping Doomsday i. viii. 77 Finding the loaf rather too new and the knife too blunt for the carving of slices of ideal thinness. The beastly things would buttonhole!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1534v.1848- counter-attacking
- counter-attacks
- counter-attestation
- counter-attired
- counter-attraction
- counter-attractive
- counter-averment
- counter-avouch
- counter-avouchment
- counter-band
- counter-banding
- counter-bar
- counter-barred
- counter-barry
- counter-base
- counter-batter
- counter-battery
- counter-battled
- counter-beam
- counter-beat
- counter-bended
- counter-bendy
- counter-bias
- counter-bid
- counter-bidding