unbutton

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English onbottonen, unbotonen; equivalent to un- +‎ button.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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unbutton (third-person singular simple present unbuttons, present participle unbuttoning, simple past and past participle unbuttoned)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To open (something) by undoing its buttons.
    • 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: [] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] [], →OCLC:
      Being now too high wound up to bear a delay, he unbutton'd, and drawing out the engine of love-assaults, drove it currently, as at a ready-made breach
  2. (intransitive, ergative) To come open by having its buttons unfastened.
    • 2010, Janet Chapman, Tempt Me If You Can, page 70:
      He was so muscled and firm, and the canvas shirt under his jacket unbuttoned easily.
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Translations

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