Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having buttons extending down the front from the collar to the waist.
- adjective Fastened down by buttons.
- adjective Conservative, conventional, or unimaginative.
- noun A button-down shirt.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of a collar, able to be buttoned down to the shirt, as over a
necktie . - adjective idiomatic Serious;
staid ;businesslike . - adjective idiomatic
Conservative ;conventional ;unimaginative . - noun A shirt with a button-down collar
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective unimaginatively conventional
- adjective of a shirt; having the ends of the collar fastened down by buttons
Etymologies
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Examples
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At 11:30, Pastor Rick takes the stage, dressed in a loose, short-sleeved button-down shirt and black cotton chinos.
American Grace Robert D. Putnam 2010
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Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla turned button-down technocrat with expertise in everything from energy to high finance, comfortably won Brazil's presidency Sunday in a contest that demonstrated voter loyalty to the man who handpicked her for the job, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Rousseff is Brazil's first female president Juan Forero 2010
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She was a fairly serious woman, dressed in gray slacks and a sensible white button-down shirt, with a pair of bifocals hanging from a chain around her neck.
Times Two Kristen Henderson 2011
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Avery may prefer beat-up sneakers and baggy shorts to the usual professional apparel—he complains loudly when forced to wear a button-down shirt for an upscale Boston antiques show—but what he lacks in polish he makes up for in discernment.
A Never-Ending Treasure Hunt Jonathan Lopez 2011
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Yet right down to his white sneakers, Edmondson is dressed in a jean jacket, jeans and button-down jean shirt.
In reliably blue Maryland, the Republican challenge is a steep one Fredrick Kunkle 2010
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"Not even two seconds," says the 55-year-old Mr. Sch ä fer, who had switched out of a white shirt embroi dered with his family bakery's insignia into a less conspicuous checkered button-down for the stealth fact-finding mission.
Fresh Test: Grocery Store Automats Get a Rise Out of German Bakers Vanessa Fuhrmans 2010
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Charlie Wilson was a big customer with an unusual order: button-down collar, French cuffs, double pockets no button and epaulettes that he would, curiously, thread his suspenders through.
Don't Mess With Texas Bespoke Alexa Brazilian 2011
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Yet right down to his white sneakers, Edmondson is dressed in a jean jacket, jeans and button-down jean shirt.
In reliably blue Maryland, the Republican challenge is a steep one Fredrick Kunkle 2010
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Come August, they'll offer the company's first two ready-to-wear dress shirts: a button-down oxford in blue and white and a wide-spread collar with single button cuffs, available in 14 fabrics.
Don't Mess With Texas Bespoke Alexa Brazilian 2011
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Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla turned button-down technocrat with expertise in everything from energy to high finance, comfortably won Brazil's presidency Sunday in a contest that demonstrated voter loyalty to the man who handpicked her for the job, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Rousseff is Brazil's first female president Juan Forero 2010
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