What is "to hold by the button"

Button \But"ton\, n. [OE. boton, botoun, F. bouton button, bud, prop. something pushing out, fr. bouter to push. See Butt an end.]

1. A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.

2. A catch, of various forms and materials, used to fasten together the different parts of dress, by being attached to one part, and passing through a slit, called a buttonhole, in the other; -- used also for ornament.

3. A bud; a germ of a plant.
   --Shak.

4. A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, as a door.

5. A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion. Button hook, a hook for catching a button and drawing it through a buttonhole, as in buttoning boots and gloves. Button shell (Zo["o]l.), a small, univalve marine shell of the genus Rotella. Button snakeroot. (Bot.)

   1. The American composite genus Liatris, having rounded buttonlike heads of flowers.

   2. An American umbelliferous plant with rigid, narrow leaves, and flowers in dense heads.

      Button tree (Bot.), a genus of trees ( Conocarpus), furnishing durable timber, mostly natives of the West Indies.

      To hold by the button, to detain in conversation to weariness; to bore; to buttonhole.