buttoned up
buttoned up is the simple past and past participle of button up.
buttoned up is the alternative form of buttoned-up.
Meaning of button up
Verb
button up (third-person singular simple present buttons up, present participle buttoning up, simple past and past participle buttoned up)
- To fasten with a button or buttons.
- Button up your shirt cuff. It has come undone.
- To fasten all the buttons on a coat, or similar item of clothing, to keep warm.
- Button up well. It's freezing outside today.
- To conclude; to finalize; to put the finishing touches (on).
- It's time to button up the meeting.
- To seal off (a military vehicle or facility).
- Once buttoned up, NORAD's operation center can survive for more than 30 days without aid from the outside world.1996, Airman, volume 40, page 6
Meaning of buttoned-up
Adjective
buttoned-up (comparative more buttoned-up, superlative most buttoned-up)
- Conservative.
- Carefully planned and executed.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see button up.
- A short, stout, puffed-up little man in a high pot-hat and a buttoned-up frock-coat and a chest-protector beard was sitting up behind a stump[.]1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 74
Forms of buttoned up
| comparative | more buttoned up |
|---|---|
| superlative | most buttoned up |
Questions about buttoned up
- What is buttoned up the simple past and past participle of?
- Buttoned up is the simple past and past participle of button up.
Words near buttoned up in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: buttoned up (page history and authors); button up (page history and authors); buttoned-up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “buttoned up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/buttoned_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.