Buttonholing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of seizing or grasping the edge or button area of a garment ; the action of holding someone back to engage in prolonged conversation
2. Gripping the fabric near the buttons of clothing firmly ; forcibly stopping a person to talk at length
3. Clutching someone's clothing, especially around buttons, to get their attention ; detaining someone persistently for discussion

Etymology: The buttonhole began as "buttonhold," a loop of string used to hold a button in place, and the word's current spelling is the product of a mistake. Speakers reshaped it through folk etymology, reinterpreting the second half as "hole" because the loop was clearly meant to receive a button, so the word came to look like a button passing through a hole. The earlier form, with its "hold," describes the function more accurately: the loop holds the button. The verb "buttonholing" grew out of the noun's sense of pinning someone in place. Gripping cloth near the buttons of a coat, and so restraining a person, carries the idea of a hold that prevents escape, and from there the word came to mean forcibly stopping someone to talk at length. The meaning moved from a physical grip on clothing to a grip on another person's attention.

Synonyms: detaining, intercepting, stopping, holding, grabbing

Antonyms: releasing, letting go, allowing, permitting, liberating