catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Button \But"ton\, n. [OE. boton, botoun, F. bouton button, bud,
     prop. something pushing out, fr. bouter to push. See Butt
     an end.]
     1. A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A catch, of various forms and materials, used to fasten
        together the different parts of dress, by being attached
        to one part, and passing through a slit, called a
        buttonhole, in the other; -- used also for ornament.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A bud; a germ of a plant. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated,
        turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, as a
        door.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a
        crucible, after fusion.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Button hook, a hook for catching a button and drawing it
        through a buttonhole, as in buttoning boots and gloves.
  
     Button shell (Zo["o]l.), a small, univalve marine shell of
        the genus Rotella.
  
     Button snakeroot. (Bot.)
        (a) The American composite genus Liatris, having rounded
            buttonlike heads of flowers.
        (b) An American umbelliferous plant with rigid, narrow
            leaves, and flowers in dense heads.
  
     Button+tree+(Bot.),+a+genus+of+trees+({Conocarpus" rel="nofollow">Button tree (Bot.), a genus of trees ({Conocarpus),
        furnishing durable timber, mostly natives of the West
        Indies.
  
     To hold by the button, to detain in conversation to
        weariness; to bore; to buttonhole.
        [1913 Webster]

  Button \But"ton\, n. [OE. boton, botoun, F. bouton button, bud,
     prop. something pushing out, fr. bouter to push. See Butt
     an end.]
     1. A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.
  
     2. A catch, of various forms and materials, used to fasten
        together the different parts of dress, by being attached
        to one part, and passing through a slit, called a
        buttonhole, in the other; -- used also for ornament.
  
     3. A bud; a germ of a plant. --Shak.
  
     4. A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated,
        turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, as a
        door.
  
     5. A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a
        crucible, after fusion.
  
     Button hook, a hook for catching a button and drawing it
        through a buttonhole, as in buttoning boots and gloves.
  
     Button shell (Zo["o]l.), a small, univalve marine shell of
        the genus Rotella.
  
     Button snakeroot. (Bot.)
        (a) The American composite genus Liatris, having rounded
            buttonlike heads of flowers.
        (b) An American umbelliferous plant with rigid, narrow
            leaves, and flowers in dense heads.
  
     Button+tree+(Bot.),+a+genus+of+trees+({Conocarpus" rel="nofollow">Button tree (Bot.), a genus of trees ({Conocarpus),
        furnishing durable timber, mostly natives of the West
        Indies.
  
     To hold by the button, to detain in conversation to
        weariness; to bore; to buttonhole.

  button tree
       n : evergreen tree or shrub with fruit resembling buttons and
           yielding heavy hard compact wood [syn: button mangrove,
            Conocarpus erectus]