button

noun

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

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

(graphical user interface) An on-screen control that can be selected as an activator of an attached function.

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

(botany) A bud.

The calyx of an orange.

The head of an unexpanded mushroom.

(slang) The clitoris.

(curling) The center (bullseye) of the house.

(fencing) The soft circular tip at the end of a foil.

(poker) A plastic disk used to represent the person in last position in a poker game; also dealer's button.

(poker) The player who is last to act after the flop, turn and river, who possesses the button.

A raised pavement marker to further indicate the presence of a pavement-marking painted stripe.

(aviation) The end of a runway.

(South Africa, slang) A methaqualone tablet (used as a recreational drug).

A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, such as a door.

A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion.

A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.

A small white blotch on a cat's coat.

(generally with the) The means for initiating a nuclear strike or similar cataclysmic occurrence.

(glassblowing) The oblate spheroidal mass of glass attaching a stem to either its bowl or foot.

(lutherie) In an instrument of the violin family, the near-semicircular shape extending from the top of the back plate of the instrument, meeting the heel of the neck.

(lutherie) Synonym of endbutton, part of a violin-family instrument.

(lutherie, bowmaking) Synonym of adjuster.

The least amount of care or interest; a whit or jot.

(television) The punchy or suspenseful line of dialogue that concludes a scene.

(comedy) The final joke at the end of a comedic act (such as a sketch, set, or scene).

(slang) A button man; a professional assassin.

The final segment of a rattlesnake's rattle.

(zoology) Pedicle; the attachment point for antlers in cervids.

A surname originating as an occupation for a maker or seller of buttons.

A township in Ford County, Illinois, United States.

Alternative form of Buton (“Indonesian island”). [An island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi.]

(dated, Southern US) A clove (of garlic).

(archaic) A person who acts as a decoy.

(UK, archaic) A unit of length equal to ¹⁄₁₂ inch.

verb

(transitive) To fasten with a button.

(intransitive) To be fastened by a button or buttons.

(informal) To stop talking.

Roots

boterbutton- · Old French · to thrust, push

Synonyms for button

togglen clickn knobn tabn claspn zippern latchn pinn

Synonyms & related words for button

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of button — including toggle, click, knob, tab, clasp, zipper. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to button

Explore words related to button — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include pushbutton, push, buttonhook, buttonhole, unbutton, toolbar, hotkey, checkbox. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for button

Common synonyms for button include toggle, click, knob, tab, clasp, zipper, latch, pin — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does button come from?

The word button breaks down into one root of Old French origin: the root button, from Old French boter (“to thrust, push”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.