Word.ws English Dictionary

hold by the button

hold by the button verb: to detain in conversation to the point of weariness or tedium; to bore while tallking to.

Verb

hold by the button (third-person singular simple present holds by the button, present participle holding by the button, simple past and past participle held by the button)

  1. (archaic, idiomatic, transitive) To detain in conversation to the point of weariness or tedium; to bore while tallking to
    • When a slanderer addresses himself to any one, let him only withhold his attention, while he argues thus with himself: --- Why does this man hold me by the button, and seem so desirous of calling my attention to another's failings?1798, A Clergyman of the County of Kent, Crude Thoughts
    Synonyms:
    buttonhole

Synonyms of hold by the button

Forms of hold by the button

third-person singular presentholds by the button
present participleholding by the button
past participleheld by the button
pastheld by the button

Questions about hold by the button

What does hold by the button mean?
Hold by the button means to detain in conversation to the point of weariness or tedium; to bore while tallking to.
What part of speech is hold by the button?
Hold by the button is a verb.
What is the past tense of hold by the button?
The past tense of hold by the button is held by the button.

Words near hold by the button in the dictionary

  1. hold all the cards
  2. hold back
  3. hold back on
  4. hold baggage
  5. hold by
  6. hold by the button
  7. hold cheap
  8. hold come what may
  9. hold court
  10. hold dear
  11. hold down

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hold by the button (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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