I.nounCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
an alarm button
▪ He hit the alarm button under the desk.
at/with the push of a button (=used to emphasize how easy a machine is to use)
▪ Files can be attached to your email at the push of a button.
belly button
hot button
▪ Your letter certainly hit a hot button.
panic button
red button
snooze button
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
bright
▪ Finlayson thought for a good long time, while he stared at Callaghan's bright new buttons.
▪ Some of them are frail physically but are as bright as a button in their minds.
▪ Reddish brown hair and bright, button eyes, and a shy, quivering look.
▪ She was as bright as a button.
▪ Some say Idi is briefly a bellboy at the Imperial Hotel in Kampala, bright buttons shining.
gold
▪ The blue silk mortar board she wore was edged in gold lace with a gold bullion button and tassel.
▪ He was right there in front of me, white wings and a blue robe with gold buttons.
▪ Leather brogues, £69, Bally. 18K gold button cufflinks, £540, Boodle &038; Dunthorne.
▪ The line is often simple, but outfits are trimmed with velvet or gold buttons.
▪ Recently he bought a pair of Evisu jeans with gold buttons for £1,250.
▪ As he approached, the clerk noticed that the Prince's doublet was of pure white satin with gold buttons.
hot
▪ It really is a hot button.
▪ So far in this campaign season at least one perennial hot button issue is missing.
left
▪ Holding the left mouse button on the right pointing arrow to move the magnified area to the right.
▪ Doubleclick on it with the left button.
▪ Display peak value Move mouse over a peak, click the LEFT mouse button.
▪ Step 1: While holding down the left mouse button, slide the mouse over the text you wish to capture.
▪ Pre-select from right to left and press the right part button and the left tuck button.
▪ Click the left mouse button twice and the design area will print out sideways.
little
▪ They sit in front of little screens and press little buttons, but no skill is involved.
▪ He put his hand down to the crutch of the camiknickers and he fumbled with the little buttons.
panic
▪ Through the watery mist she focused on the red panic button that stood out upon the wall behind the door.
▪ Thursday inside the Olympic Dome, Rudy not have hit the panic button, but his voice clearly was raised.
▪ One does not cry wolf with panic buttons.
▪ The guy was just a walking panic button, something to wake you up.
▪ And why have governments in the region not pressed the panic button?
political
▪ Can teachers wear political buttons, badges, or armbands to class?
▪ Elfant is a political button vendor, a lifelong liberal who is making his living this week at the Republican National Convention.
▪ The show has been nicely augmented by hand-decorated clothing, record covers and political buttons of the era.
red
▪ He found it on the far side, punched the red button and watched the big metal doors start to move.
▪ The fitted blue jacket and the small cap with the red button disappeared.
▪ Through the watery mist she focused on the red panic button that stood out upon the wall behind the door.
▪ Around-the-clock, certified poison specialists field calls on 1970s-era phone consoles with rows of blinking white and red plastic buttons.
▪ Being a very friendly fellow he once let me punch the red button that started the press.
▪ Litchfield came to the head of the bed and pushed the red button protruding from the maple headboard.
▪ There were no red or blue buttons to push, only a lot of paperwork.
▪ Aged about ten months, he sports a poorly, red button of a nose, barnacled with encrusted snot.
right
▪ Pointing at the object and pressing the right mouse button displays each object's properties.
▪ He pushed all the right buttons.
▪ What presses the right button in different cells?
▪ Use your trusty right mouse button to click on it, which will bring up a properties sheet.
▪ Object properties, once set, can be redefined simply by re-clicking the right mouse button.
▪ The appeal punched the right buttons and played to the latent bigotry and fears in many whites.
▪ The lift was thankfully free and she stepped blindly into it, blinking so that she could find the right button to push.
▪ These are words which are all designed to press the right buttons among women voters.
silver
▪ He's got his big winter coat on with silver buttons and his tall hat.
▪ But Leon didn't let go, rubbing at the coat's tarnished silver button.
▪ A few brass and silver buttons gleamed in the minimal light.
small
▪ Swiftly, she unfastened the small pearl buttons of her bodice, and pulled the dress over her head.
▪ Then his fingers fumbled to unfasten the small buttons of her suit jacket.
▪ The only controls are a variable speed dial mounted on the top of the trigger, and a small lock-on button.
▪ She stretched out a hand and retrieved a small pearl button.
▪ Top right: small buttons can be a nightmare for uncoordinated fingers.
▪ Underneath she wore a traditional dress, high-necked with small hand-made buttons but without decoration.
top
▪ Loosen tie &038; undo top button of shirt so that shirt collar bows out and tie arches forward like a cup handle.
▪ Waistcoats or sleeveless pullovers sometimes worn with suits, though you couldn't see them when the top button was done up.
▪ He had loosened his tie and undone the top button of his shirt.
▪ He undid the top buttons of his shirt and pulled the shirt apart.
▪ In his corner, a second pulls Ali's shirt-tail from his trousers; the top button remains buttoned.
▪ She followed his eyes downwards and cringed inwardly when she realised the top buttons of her shirt had come undone.
▪ He flung himself at her, springing the top button of his jeans and jerking them down as he did so.
▪ Piers was in the living-room as they walked in, half naked, the top button of his faded jeans undone.
■ NOUN
belly
▪ The belly button was protruding and it looked ready to burst.
▪ A man with monogrammed shirts, a maid, a mansion, and all he wanted was to finger her belly button.
▪ The ruby in her belly button stayed put.
▪ In the early 1960s and 1970s and in the mid 1990s shrunken tight clothing often exposed the belly button.
▪ His checked shirt was pulled out of his pants, and his belly button was showing.
campaign
▪ There is the woman whose clothes are covered from head to toe with Presidential campaign buttons.
▪ Visitors can print out campaign buttons or postcards.
fire
▪ To kick the ball, press and release the fire button.
▪ It consisted of a contoured handgrip fitted with a top-mounted fire button and a side mounted pause control.
▪ With three directions, you can also belt it at 45-degree angles by moving the joystick with the fire button depressed.
▪ Release the fire button before the joystick and the angle increases to 70 degrees, which is great for crosses.
▪ The remaining pair of pads, mounted at the bottom of the tube, are used as fire buttons.
▪ Just hold down the fire button to determine strength, and position the joystick as for a standard kick.
mouse
▪ Pointing at the object and pressing the right mouse button displays each object's properties.
▪ Use your trusty right mouse button to click on it, which will bring up a properties sheet.
▪ Double-click - A mouse procedure where the left-hand mouse button is pressed twice in quick succession.
▪ Then there was the mouse button war.
▪ Object properties, once set, can be redefined simply by re-clicking the right mouse button.
▪ The right-side mouse button is one such key to using Windows 95.
▪ Mass Downloader is particularly nice, as it integrates into your mouse button menu.
▪ But debates about mouse buttons are impassioned and urgent.
pause
▪ Both machines have a pause button for interruptions.
▪ Everything freezes on the court, like some one has hit the pause button and suspended the characters in a movie.
▪ Every few seconds, Jody hits the pause button, freezing a frame to show them how out of position they are.
▪ Remember when we talked about the pause button on a video camera?
push
▪ But, as you know, with the K858 you have the advantage of push buttons.
▪ Five push buttons take care of the full-speed play, half-speed play, record, instrument distortion and stop options.
▪ Between these two displays are the rotary encoder control and four push buttons.
▪ Equipped for fast and comfortable cruising, her deck equipment includes 22 self tailing winches with electric push button primaries.
▪ There are other sub-classes for graphical user interface components such as push buttons and scroll bars.
▪ If you have a push button phone, you can choose your reading by pressing any number from 1-78.
start
▪ When you're all set, click the Start button in the Recording Controls option and ramble away!
▪ C.. The Start button. 20.
▪ Unlike some other units, this charger has a start button: charging begins when the red start button is pressed.
▪ When he was sure that there had been no modifications since his last trip, he pressed the START button.
▪ Unlike some other units, this charger has a start button: charging begins when the red start button is pressed.
■ VERB
buy
▪ People who buy several souvenir buttons tell which candidate they are supporting.
click
▪ You can set which details are shown by clicking the Options button.
▪ The user can click on a button to switch between the different languages.
▪ Instead I would just like to be able to click a single button which means assigning a macro to an appropriate icon.
▪ She clicked on the button to turn over the second card, and the second card was Death.
▪ This should become clearer if you run the project, click the button and study the output carefully.
▪ Users just have to click an on-screen button to encrypt an outgoing message.
▪ To place a call, type one of the following into the Address bar: Then click the Place Call button.
▪ To go back to a page you previously visited, click the Back button until you find it.
fasten
▪ She rose and picked up her coat and fastened the buttons with a feeling of determination.
▪ It fastens with buttons at the front.
▪ Abstractedly he fastened buttons and tucked in his shirt.
▪ His fingers were numb and he had trouble fastening the buttons.
▪ A back opening fastens with buttons and a wide sash ties at the waist.
hit
▪ She slammed the gate across - surprisingly lithe, her bicep bunching - and hit the button for the third floor.
▪ Everything freezes on the court, like some one has hit the pause button and suspended the characters in a movie.
▪ I pulled it out of my pocket and hit the button that silenced it.
▪ Some one hit the down button and the Oval once again began its forty-foot descent into the earth.
▪ They hit the button, and the results-pub lished last month in the journal Science-were shocking.
▪ Thursday inside the Olympic Dome, Rudy not have hit the panic button, but his voice clearly was raised.
▪ But when Tonia is due to jet in he hits the panic button and blitzes the housework.
▪ Every few seconds, Jody hits the pause button, freezing a frame to show them how out of position they are.
hold
▪ Zoom Control Move mouse over the molecule, hold Shift key, click and hold mouse button and drag.
▪ Show Menu Move mouse over molecule, click and hold mouse button and wait.
▪ All you have to do is press and hold down a button.
▪ Move the magnified area up by holding down the mouse button on the up arrow and stop at row 39.
▪ Just hold down the fire button to determine strength, and position the joystick as for a standard kick.
press
▪ This prospect pressed a peril button in Yeremi's brain.
▪ It was only necessary to break the seal, press a button, and then wait.
▪ Simply press the reset button twice and the machine boots up into the diagnostic routine.
▪ He pressed a button and somewhere high above machinery clunked into life.
▪ By this time Cecilia had forgotten all about not pushing past the bear to press the button and get out.
▪ S/he then pressed the button to present the stimulus card and start the timer.
▪ Please ring. - so she pressed the button.
▪ At 0900 promptly the youngest and newest recruit had the privilege of pressing the button.
punch
▪ D'Arcy punched the intercom button and introduced himself to the disembodied Oriental voice at the other end.
▪ I sat down in my swivel chair and propped my feet up, punching the replay button on the answering machine.
▪ He found it on the far side, punched the red button and watched the big metal doors start to move.
▪ The appeal punched the right buttons and played to the latent bigotry and fears in many whites.
▪ Being a very friendly fellow he once let me punch the red button that started the press.
▪ Hours later he punches a button on his computer and an electronic scream of rage races into cyberspace.
▪ Krajewski punched the freeze frame button.
▪ He leaned back and punched an erase button at the center of his thoughts.
reset
▪ Simply press the reset button twice and the machine boots up into the diagnostic routine.
▪ A reset button may be used to cancel operation and a further pushbutton switch used to trigger the unit at any time.
▪ Pressing the Set or Reset button should have no effect.
▪ A reset button is also provided, which is pressed if the charging light fails to illuminate.
sew
▪ I washed out a pair of tights and sewed on a button.
▪ Use dental floss to sew buttons on to heavy fabric such as coats.
▪ It's no good making fatuous suggestions ... It would be better if you concentrated on sewing some buttons on my shirts.
▪ She even once let Alison sew on a button and observed Alison's gratitude.
▪ In Hull a man had poisoned his wife because she'd refused to sew buttons on to his clothes.
▪ She sewed buttons on to a white shirt she'd made.
touch
▪ Then when you touch the button, what's inside you comes out.
▪ We had been at computer class for nearly three hours, and we had not yet touched a button on the computer.
▪ Adam touched the sixth button, but neither man spoke on their journey up to the sixth floor.
▪ They approached a blank stone wall and the lad touched certain buttons upon the contraption he wore on his wrist.
▪ She studied the controls for a moment, then touched a button.
undo
▪ She was repeatedly doing up and undoing the bottom button of her black cardigan.
▪ Loosen tie &038; undo top button of shirt so that shirt collar bows out and tie arches forward like a cup handle.
▪ He hesitated, then with a straight arm reached and undid her top button.
▪ He had loosened his tie and undone the top button of his shirt.
▪ He undid his buttons, and peeled off his shirt.
▪ He shrugged out of his jacket and her hands went to his cotton shirt, fumbling in their haste to undo the buttons.
▪ He pushed her backwards and covered her body with his own, as he gradually undid the buttons of her dress.
use
▪ With plug-and-play installation and big, easy to use buttons, the setup is pretty standard.
▪ For example, players who use three-button mice with the game can use one of the buttons to look up or down.
▪ The remaining pair of pads, mounted at the bottom of the tube, are used as fire buttons.
▪ When you use that button, you freeze the scene.
▪ Instead of using both part buttons, one part and one tuck button are pressed.
▪ It is all designed to stop you from using the remote-control button to switch channels.
▪ A silence long enough, I imagine, for her to use the fast-forward button.
▪ The owner then uses three tiny buttons to feed, play with, clean up after and discipline it.
wear
▪ She went to a high-level management meeting wearing a button badge proclaiming her news.
▪ Can teachers wear political buttons, badges, or armbands to class?
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
as bright as a button
▪ She was as bright as a button.
▪ Some of them are frail physically but are as bright as a button in their minds.
press/push the panic button
▪ And why have governments in the region not pressed the panic button?
▪ Derby County chairman Brian Fearn has refused to push the panic button after Tranmere's 2-1 win.
push (sb's) buttons
▪ Between these two displays are the rotary encoder control and four push buttons.
▪ But, as you know, with the K858 you have the advantage of push buttons.
▪ Five push buttons take care of the full-speed play, half-speed play, record, instrument distortion and stop options.
▪ Subtle it ain t, but for big-band fans, it pushes all the buttons.
▪ The destabilizing effect will push buttons and force changes.
▪ The geeky suitor lost, which pushes the wrong buttons.
▪ This can only be because there is something about Twinkies that pushes buttons in us that other junk foods do not.
▪ When your words are likely to push his buttons, use anticipation.
reset button/switch
▪ A reset button is also provided, which is pressed if the charging light fails to illuminate.
▪ A reset button may be used to cancel operation and a further pushbutton switch used to trigger the unit at any time.
▪ For security, the reset switch is situated in a secret place and may be key-operated.
▪ Is it possible to list a program after resetting the game with a reset switch? 2.
▪ Simply press the reset button twice and the machine boots up into the diagnostic routine.
▪ You should find that you can change the output states by pressing the appropriate set or reset switch.
with/at the touch of a button/key
▪ A customer uses her remote control to shop different channels with the touch of a button.
▪ An oil dispensing massage head dispenses oil at the touch of a button to give a smooth, drag free massage.
▪ At the touch of a button a huge gate opens and I am confined in a small area between fences.
▪ At the touch of a button they can still be made to disappear.
▪ Jet start operates for 30 seconds at the touch of a button.
▪ Letters, words or whole lines can be deleted and new texts inserted at the touch of a button.
▪ Up to ten needles can be operated separately by computer programme producing endless designs and colourways at the touch of a button.
▪ You can add categories and recipes at the touch of a button.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Press the pause button.
▪ To turn off the radio, push the button on the left.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Jack tried but it was quite impossible; the button, like the steering wheel, was red hot.
▪ NoClue: Hey, what does this F4 button do?
▪ She pushed a button, cranking the bed to a more upright position.
▪ Silver foliage, yellow button flowers and a smell of chicken tikka.
▪ Then when you touch the button, what's inside you comes out.
▪ There are hundreds of black button eyes and a thick nest of yarn for the hair.
▪ We had been at computer class for nearly three hours, and we had not yet touched a button on the computer.
II.verbCOLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
down
▪ Deliberately, Madeleine had selected a dress to wear which buttoned down the front to the waist.
▪ He was a crew-cut Harvard man with sleeves rolled up and collar buttoned down.
up
▪ She got up from the bed, buttoned up her nightshirt and went to the door.
▪ If that forecast holds true, Perot will also succeed in buttoning up the election for Clinton.
▪ An old woman emerges from a shack behind the cantina, buttoning up a torn housedress.
▪ Molly had buttoned up the braces on Jacqueline's trousers and found her youngest child a biscuit when she heard the screams.
▪ My father buttoned up the isinglass windows of the Model hoisted Doris and me on to the high backseat.
▪ He saw that her coat was buttoned up wrong.
▪ He buttoned up his Marine coat and walked down Prospect Avenue to where his Baby was parked.
■ NOUN
coat
▪ It was a drizzling spring afternoon and I paused on the steps to button my coat.
▪ He buttoned up his Marine coat and walked down Prospect Avenue to where his Baby was parked.
▪ Within a few minutes of this treatment being given, he was able to button up his coat.
▪ I adjusted my tie and buttoned up the coat which, a little while later, I would be unbuttoning.
▪ She makes a motion to button my coat, but I am already starting down the path.
jacket
▪ It is dark outside and I button my jacket.
▪ No - he was buttoning his jacket in a purposeful manner, and they were about to leave the scene.
▪ I was buttoning my jacket when the little peer returned.
lip
▪ Scientists and engineers have buttoned their lip, and crossed their fingers that the reckoning wouldn't come in their own day.
shirt
▪ He wears a working man's checked shirt, buttoned up to the neck.
▪ He is wearing shoes, and his shirt cuffs are buttoned.
▪ The prisoner wore a checked shirt buttoned to the top.
▪ Models, walking between the rows of chairs in a sterile white room, wore shirts buttoned to the neck.
■ VERB
push
▪ The geeky suitor lost, which pushes the wrong buttons.
▪ This can only be because there is something about Twinkies that pushes buttons in us that other junk foods do not.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
as bright as a button
▪ She was as bright as a button.
▪ Some of them are frail physically but are as bright as a button in their minds.
press/push the panic button
▪ And why have governments in the region not pressed the panic button?
▪ Derby County chairman Brian Fearn has refused to push the panic button after Tranmere's 2-1 win.
reset button/switch
▪ A reset button is also provided, which is pressed if the charging light fails to illuminate.
▪ A reset button may be used to cancel operation and a further pushbutton switch used to trigger the unit at any time.
▪ For security, the reset switch is situated in a secret place and may be key-operated.
▪ Is it possible to list a program after resetting the game with a reset switch? 2.
▪ Simply press the reset button twice and the machine boots up into the diagnostic routine.
▪ You should find that you can change the output states by pressing the appropriate set or reset switch.
with/at the touch of a button/key
▪ A customer uses her remote control to shop different channels with the touch of a button.
▪ An oil dispensing massage head dispenses oil at the touch of a button to give a smooth, drag free massage.
▪ At the touch of a button a huge gate opens and I am confined in a small area between fences.
▪ At the touch of a button they can still be made to disappear.
▪ Jet start operates for 30 seconds at the touch of a button.
▪ Letters, words or whole lines can be deleted and new texts inserted at the touch of a button.
▪ Up to ten needles can be operated separately by computer programme producing endless designs and colourways at the touch of a button.
▪ You can add categories and recipes at the touch of a button.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Button up your coat, Nina - it's cold.
▪ The pants button at the side.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He pulled his trousers back up and buttoned his fly.
▪ Her fingers buttoned something at her neck where there was nothing to button.
▪ No - he was buttoning his jacket in a purposeful manner, and they were about to leave the scene.
▪ Rickels needs help for tasks such as buttoning his shirt.
▪ She got up from the bed, buttoned up her nightshirt and went to the door.
▪ Then he buttoned the top over his undershirt, and pulled on a pair of green socks.