different between waylay vs buttonhole

English

Etymology

From way +? lay, likely a calque of Middle Dutch wegelagen (“besetting of ways, lying in wait with evil or hostile intent along public ways”). Compare Middle Low German wegelagen, German wegelagern (“to waylay; rob”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?we??le?/, /?we?le?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?we?le?/
• Rhymes: -e?

Verb

waylay (third-person singular simple present waylays, present participle waylaying, simple past and past participle waylaid or (nonstandard) waylayed)

1. (transitive) To lie in wait for and attack from ambush.

   Synonyms: ambush, lurk

2. (transitive) To accost or intercept unexpectedly.

   Synonym: buttonhole

Translations

English

Etymology

Originally buttonhold (“a loop of string to hold a button down”), but changed by folk etymology by influence of hole; see the Wikipedia article on folk etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

buttonhole (plural buttonholes)

1. A hole through which a button is pushed to secure a garment or some part of one.
2. (chiefly Britain) A flower worn in a buttonhole for decoration.

   Synonym: boutonniere

3. (medicine) A small slot-like cut or incision, made for example by an accident with the scalpel.
   • 2011, George L. Spaeth, Helen Danesh-Meyer, Ivan Goldberg, Ophthalmic Surgery: Principles and Practice E-Book (page 220)

     The usual cause of conjunctival buttonholes is penetration of the tissue by the tip of a sharp instrument […]

Translations

Verb

buttonhole (third-person singular simple present buttonholes, present participle buttonholing, simple past and past participle buttonholed)

1. To detain (a person) in conversation against their will.

   Synonyms: accost, waylay

   • 1880, Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, Chapter 26,^[1]

     He backed Mr. Lykins against an iron fence, buttonholed him, fastened him with his eye, like the Ancient Mariner, and proceeded to unfold his narrative as placidly and peacefully as if we were all stretched comfortably in a blossomy summer meadow instead of being persecuted by a wintry midnight tempest:

   • 1936, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York: Macmillan, Part 5, Chapter 50, p. 890,^[2]

     He buttonholed people on the street and related details of his child’s miraculous progress without even prefacing his remarks with the hypocritical but polite: “I know everyone thinks their own child is smart but—”

Derived terms

• buttonholer

Translations