Meanings
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1
noun
a slit in a garment through which a button passes to fasten it
Cecily slipped the rose's stem through Algernon's buttonhole.
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2
noun
chiefly British, a flower or small spray of flowers worn through a lapel buttonhole
Algernon asked for a buttonhole before lunch, so Cecily cut him a pink rose.
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3
verb
to stop someone and detain them in conversation, often in order to press a request or opinion
A critic buttonholed the actor in the theatre lobby after the performance.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Originally an alteration of buttonhold, a loop or fastening that held a button, reshaped under the influence of hole and now understood as button + hole. The flower sense came from wearing a bloom through a lapel buttonhole; the verb arose from grasping someone by a coat buttonhole to keep them talking.