How to use buttonhole in a sentence

12 example sentences · noun, verb

Buttonhole means a hole through which a button is pushed to secure a garment or some part of one. Example: “As an avid button collector, I have had to develop an efficient way of removing the nubbin of thread from the buttonhole.”

Examples of buttonhole by meaning

verbTo detain (a person) in conversation against their will.

He buttonholed people on the street and related details of his child’s miraculous progress without even prefacing his remarks with the hypocritical but polite: “I know everyone thinks their own child is smart but—”1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter L, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published June 1944, →OCLC, part...
Hiro buttonholes a waiter and surreptitiously orders a pitcher of Pub Special, mixed half and half with nonalcoholic beer.1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 295

verbTo attain buttonhole-like formations on cutting.

The beastly things would buttonhole!1927, Warwick Deeping, Doomsday, page 77

More sentences with buttonhole

As an avid button collector, I have had to develop an efficient way of removing the nubbin of thread from the buttonhole.From the entry nubbin
Mary noticed Gaby absently tweedling the green ribbon hanging from her coat's buttonhole.2008, Heidi Julavits, The Uses of Enchantment, page 51. From the entry tweedle
Pickle stopped suddenly and stared at the dog daisy in Cedric's buttonhole.1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 38. From the entry dog daisy
They are named after the practice of hopefully skilled employees carrying tassels, known as mops, in their buttonholes indicating their occupation.2022, Graham Sutherland, Secret Warwick. From the entry mop
When finished with a waistband, an underwrap can be created with a hook fastening or button and buttonhole.2008, Annete Fischer, Basics Fashion Design 03: Construction, →ISBN, page 170. From the entry underwrap
If your buttonholes are too big for your buttons, or will be after only a few unbuttonings, try reinforcing them using one of the methods on this page.2011, Sharon Turner, Knitting VISUAL Quick Tips. From the entry unbuttoning
Buttons used with the horizontal buttonholes are sewn on the underwrap in line with the buttonhole and exactly on the centre front or back line (diag 20).1973, Lorraine Kloppman, Woman's Day book of sewing, →ISBN, page 58. From the entry underwrap
She wore a practically new gabardine with the same paper Union Jack flag as me, only hers was tucked into her coat buttonhole, behind a gold cat pasted with jewels.2007, Frances McNeil, “Sophie”, in Sisters in Fortune, Sutton, Surrey: Severn House Publishers, →ISBN; republished as Frances Brody…. From the entry swank
He had buttonhole bouquets and all the flap-doodles that belong to a swell feed, and had his colored man grinding out music with a phonograph until the talkin' time came.1907, American Thresherman - Volume 10, page 46. From the entry flap-doodle

Meaning of buttonhole

noun A hole through which a button is pushed to secure a garment or some part of one.
noun A flower worn in a buttonhole for decoration.
noun So shaped that it can be worn on a buttonhole or it is similar to a buttonhole.

Full definition of buttonhole

Questions about buttonhole in a sentence

How do you use buttonhole in a sentence?: Buttonhole is used as a noun and verb. For example: “As an avid button collector, I have had to develop an efficient way of removing the nubbin of thread from the buttonhole.”
What is a short sentence with buttonhole?: “The beastly things would buttonhole!”
What does buttonhole mean?: Buttonhole means a hole through which a button is pushed to secure a garment or some part of one.

Adapted from Wiktionary: buttonhole (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use buttonhole in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/buttonhole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.