buttonhole
/ˈbʌt(ə)nhəʊl
/noun
1A slit made in a garment to receive a button for fastening.Details like workmanship, buttons, buttonholes, cuffs, and seams are usually good indicators of the item's quality and authenticity. where to find the goods...
- Make the samples on the same number of fabric and interfacing layers that are in the garment where the buttonholes are located.
- On the center front of a garment, horizontal buttonholes are the most secure and help prevent the opening from gaping.
1.1British A flower or spray worn in a buttonhole on the lapel of a jacket.Brenda Fitzell and Lesley Irvine were thanked for the table flowers and birthday buttonholes....
- A Shrivenham florist made a wedding at Cricklade a happy event by stepping in after a Swindon firm failed to deliver the bride's bouquet and 30 buttonholes for guests.
- Both children received a special cup, as well as a posy of flowers for the princess and a buttonhole for the prince.
verb [with object]
1 informal Attract the attention of and detain (someone) in conversation, typically against their will: reporters buttonhole officials coming out of the press secretary’s office...
- Around the adjacent display of scientifically-valuable spinning tops and dinosaur models stood a man buttonholing people to get signatures on a petition to save the place.
- I've just spent the past hour or so buttonholing people wandering around and asking them what they think of the new products.
- After that it takes Kernaghan a half-hour to get out of the hall as people keep buttonholing him.
2Make buttonholes in (a garment).When the contacts on the presser foot ride over the markers, a circuit is completed and proper steps in the buttonholing sequence are initiated....
- Roman cutwork or Colbert embroidery is one of the prettiest forms of buttonholing.
- The edges are buttonholed all around.