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Entry 8 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Button

/bŭt'-ən/ · But·ton · IPA /ˈbʌt(ə)n/
01 n. A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.
  1. 1.
    A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.
  2. 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. 3.
    A bud; a germ of a plant.
  4. 4.
    A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, as a door.
  5. 5.
    A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion.
Phrases & compounds
Button hook — a hook for catching a button and drawing it through a buttonhole, as in buttoning boots and gloves.
Button shell — a small, univalve marine shell of the genus Rotella.
Button snakeroot — The American composite genus Liatris, having rounded buttonlike heads of flowers.
Button tree — 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.
02 v. t. To fasten with a button or buttons; to inclose or make secure with buttons; -- often followed by up.
imp. & p. p. Buttoned; p. pr. & vb. n. Buttoning
  1. 1.
    To fasten with a button or buttons; to inclose or make secure with buttons; -- often followed by up.
    “He was a tall, fat, long-bodied man, buttoned up to the throat in a tight green coat.” — Dickens.
  2. 2.
    To dress or clothe.[Obs.]
03 v. i. To be fastened by a button or buttons; as, the coat will not button.
  1. 1.
    To be fastened by a button or buttons; as, the coat will not button.