Dictionary

rebutton en · VERB

Etymology

From re- + button.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To fasten with buttons again.
   • Ms. Osborne notes that in Edwardian London adulterous affairs tended to be conducted between the hours of five and seven (known as a “cinq à sept”) because it took women lots of time in those days to unbutton and unlace their layers of corsets, chemises and underskirts, let alone relace and rebutton them up afterward, so lovers scheduled their visits for just after tea when “ladies were undressing in order to exchange their afternoon clothes for their evening ones.” 2009 September 11, Michiko Kakutani, “When a Great-Grandmother Goes Bad”, in New York Times:
   • The door to the inner rooms opened suddenly and Jimmy reappeared, freshly washed and brushed, his collar rebuttoned, and a soft blue necktie bringing out the colour in his smiling eyes. 1930, Margaret Ayer Barnes, Years of Grace, Part III, Chapter II, page 268:

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