button hole

US/ˈbʌtənˌhoʊl/

nounB1Not compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

A button hole is the slit a round fastener is pushed through. Sew a button hole.

It is stitched round the edge so the cloth cannot fray or tear open. A button hole in a lapel was originally for a real flower and still holds one at weddings.

Definitions of button hole

1nounbutton holeThe slit a round fastener is pushed through.B1
“The top button hole had stretched and would not hold.”

button hole is a hole.

Where it comes from

Built from

buttonhold · English — a loop of string to hold a button down

buttonhole Originally buttonhold (“a loop of string to hold a button down”), but changed by folk etymology by influence of hole. by surface analysis, button + hole.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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