Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
hold by the button en · VERB
Meanings
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(archaic, idiomatic, transitive) To detain in conversation to the point of weariness or tedium; to bore while tallking to
When a slanderer addresses himself to any one, let him only withhold his attention, while he argues thus with himself: --- Why does this man hold me by the button, and seem so desirous of calling my attention to another's failings?
1798, A Clergyman of the County of Kent, Crude Thoughts:
Forms
Synonyms
buttonhole