button

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an electrical switch operated by pressing

   the elevator was operated by push buttons

2. 2
   noun

   a round flat badge displaying information and suitable for pinning onto a garment

   they passed out campaign buttons for their candidate

3. 3
   verb

   to fasten with buttons

   I can button my shirts with one hand.

4. 4
   verb

   to provide with buttons

   I buttoned the shirt.

5. 5
   noun

   A knob or disc that is passed through a loop or (buttonhole), serving as a fastener.

   I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.

6. 6
   noun

   A mechanical device designed to be pressed with a finger in order to open or close an electric circuit or to activate a mechanism.

   Pat pushed the button marked "shred" on the blender.

7. 7
   noun

   An on-screen control that can be selected as an activator of an attached function.

   Click the button that looks like a house to return to your browser's home page.

8. 8
   noun

   A badge worn on clothes, fixed with a pin through the fabric.

   The politician wore a bright yellow button with the slogan "Vote Smart" emblazoned on it.

Etymology

From Middle English boton, botoun, from Old French boton (Modern French bouton), from Old French bouter, boter (“to push; thrust”), ultimately from a Germanic language. Doublet of bouton, Biden, and beat. More at butt.