Word.ws English Dictionary

buttons up

buttons up is the third-person singular simple present indicative of button 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)

  1. (transitive) To fasten with a button or buttons.
    • Button up your shirt cuff. It has come undone.
  2. (intransitive) To fasten all the buttons on a coat, or similar item of clothing, to keep warm.
    • Button up well. It's freezing outside today.
  3. (ambitransitive) To conclude; to finalize; to put the finishing touches (on).
    • It's time to button up the meeting.
  4. (US, ergative, slang, transitive) 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

Questions about buttons up

What is buttons up the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Buttons up is the third-person singular simple present indicative of button up.

Words near buttons up in the dictionary

  1. buttonquail
  2. buttonquails
  3. buttons
  4. buttons one's lip
  5. buttons through
  6. buttons up
  7. buttons up one's lip
  8. buttonweed
  9. buttonweeds
  10. buttonwillow
  11. buttonwillows

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: buttons up (page history and authors); button 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: “buttons up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/buttons_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.