to buttonhole

Examples

• All

• If you walk around the convention and buttonhole any Democratic senator you find on the street and ask them how many times they have received a call from the President to talk about politics, to talk about legislative strategy, I guarantee you won't find a lot of people who have gotten one phone call in the last two and a half years.

  Blog text (18)

• A militant organizer, Young threatened a National Labor Relations Board complaint and promised to buttonhole Johnson, who was due in soon, to exert pressure for an adjustment of the Kinsey dispute.

  Academic text (2007)

• And if he was walking down the hallway in his building, he would buttonhole you and come and tell you the pitch and ask for feedback.

  Film Courage

• I buttonhole computer science student John Samuel as he peruses the placards.

  Blog text (27)

• He buttonholes people on Wednesday mornings and demands, "Is there an angel in that tree?"

  Academic text (1999)

• No sooner do I put a foot through the door than he buttonholes me: "Look what a smashing book on Gauguin someone's given me!"

  Fiction book (1994)

• I'd love to sit in on a Friday afternoon conference, or I'd love to be able to buttonhole the justices in the hall and find out who's sticking it to whom.

  Academic text (2000)

• They tend to lack that inner gauge that tells them when they're talking too much; they're always trying to buttonhole the nearest passerby.

  Fiction book (1998)

• I want to buttonhole you for a moment to discuss the project details.

• After the meeting, she managed to buttonhole the director to pitch her ideas.

Synonyms

B

to bend someone's ear

vsto buttonhole

• Informal

7.9

Talk to someone for a long time about personal things and often annoy them

stop and hold someone to force listening rather than just talk at length

Antonyms

I

to ignore

∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

R

to release

∞ 1.8

To let someone or something go free from being held

Compounds

B

buttonhole machine

• Specialized

5.1

A sewing machine that sews small openings for buttons in clothes

B

buttonhole stitch

• Specialized

7.2

A row of small sewn loops that finish and strengthen fabric edges around buttonholes

E

eyelet buttonhole machine

• Specialized

9.1

A machine that sews buttonholes, for example small round eyelet holes

Surface Forms

Etymology