Bottom vs. Button: What's the Difference?
Edited by Harlon Moss || By Janet White || Updated on June 1, 2024
"Bottom" refers to the lowest part or base of something, while "Button" is a small disc or knob used for fastening or as a decoration.
Key Differences
"Bottom" and "Button" are distinct English words with entirely different meanings. "Bottom" generally refers to the lowest part of something, whereas "Button" denotes a small, usually round object that is pressed, clicked, or fastened.
When considering the word "Bottom," it can be used in diverse contexts, such as geographical locations, anatomy, or even objects like containers. On the contrary, "Button" largely describes fasteners on clothing or clickable elements in digital interfaces.
Both "Bottom" and "Button" have verb forms. To "bottom out" means to reach the lowest point, while to "button up" or "button down" is the act of securing buttons or finalizing details.
In figurative language, "Bottom" can signify the core truth or underlying reason. For instance, "getting to the bottom of a mystery." On the other hand, "Button" has idiomatic expressions like "pushing someone's buttons," implying provoking or annoying someone.
Both "Bottom" and "Button" have entered the realm of technology. "Bottom" may refer to the base of a webpage or document, and "Button" to interactive elements on software interfaces or websites.
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Comparison Chart
Primary Meaning
Lowest part or base of something
Small disc or knob for fastening or decoration
Contextual Usage
Geographical, anatomical, objects
Clothing, digital interfaces, machinery
Verb Forms
To bottom out
To button up/down
Figurative Usage
Underlying reason or truth
Provoke or annoy
Technological Relevance
Base of a webpage or document
Interactive elements on interfaces
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Bottom and Button Definitions
Bottom
The deepest or lowest part
The bottom of a well.
The bottom of the page.
Button
A generally disk-shaped fastener used to join two parts of a garment by fitting through a buttonhole or loop.
Bottom
The lowest or deepest part of something.
The treasure was found at the bottom of the sea.
Button
A badge or emblem bearing a design.
She wore a button supporting her favorite candidate.
Bottom
In finance, the lowest price level before an upturn.
The stock market has hit bottom.
Button
A clickable element in a digital interface.
Click the submit button to proceed.
Bottom
The part closest to a reference point
Was positioned at the bottom of the key for a rebound.
Button
A knob on machinery or equipment.
Push the button to start the coffee machine.
Bottom
The underside
Scraped the bottom of the car on a rock.
Button
Such an object used for decoration.
Bottom
The supporting part; the base.
Button
A push-button switch.
Bottom
The far end or part
At the bottom of the bed.
Button
The blunt tip of a fencing foil.
Bottom
The last place, as on a list.
Button
A fused metal or glass globule.
Bottom
The lowest or least favorable position
Started at the bottom of the corporate hierarchy.
Button
In graphical user interface systems, a well-defined area within the interface that is clicked to select a command.
Bottom
The basic underlying quality; the source
Let's get to the bottom of the problem.
Button
In a hypertext database, an icon that when selected allows a user to view a particular associated object.
Bottom
The solid surface under a body of water.
Button
An immature, unexpanded mushroom.
Bottom
Often bottoms Low-lying alluvial land adjacent to a river. Also called bottomland.
Button
The tip of a rattlesnake's rattle.
Bottom
(Nautical) The part of a ship's hull below the water line.
Button
A usually round flat badge that bears a design or printed information and is typically pinned to a garment
A campaign button.
Bottom
A ship; a boat
"English merchants did much of their overseas trade in foreign bottoms" (G.M. Trevelyan).
Button
(Informal) The end of the chin, regarded as the point of impact for a punch.
Bottom
Often bottoms The trousers or short pants of pajamas.
Button
In card games, especially poker, a plastic disk or similar marker placed in front of the person who is designated as dealer for a particular hand. At the start of each hand, the first card is dealt to the left of the button and the dealing of cards continues clockwise around the table.
Bottom
(Informal) The buttocks.
Button
The person who is in possession of this button.
Bottom
The seat of a chair.
Button
The position on the gaming table where this button is located.
Bottom
(Baseball) The second or last half of an inning.
Button
To fasten with buttons
Buttoned his shirt.
Buttoned up her raincoat.
Bottom
Staying power; stamina. Used of a horse.
Button
To decorate or furnish with buttons.
Bottom
(Slang) One who is penetrated by another person or is the submissive partner in a sexual encounter or relationship.
Button
(Informal) To close (the lips or mouth)
Button your lip.
Bottom
Situated at the bottom
The bottom rung of the ladder.
Button
To be or be capable of being fastened with buttons
The blouse buttons up the back.
Bottom
Of the lowest degree, quality, rank, or amount
The bottom three teams in the league.
Button
A knob or disc that is passed through a loop or (buttonhole), serving as a fastener.
April fastened the buttons of her overcoat to keep out the wind.
Bottom
To provide with an underside.
Button
A mechanical device meant to be pressed with a finger in order to open or close an electric circuit or to activate a mechanism.
Pat pushed the button marked "shred" on the blender.
Bottom
To provide with a foundation; base
Jurisprudence that is bottomed on democratic principles.
Button
(graphical user interface) An on-screen control that can be selected as an activator of an attached function.
Click the button that looks like a house to return to your browser's home page.
Bottom
To have or strike the underside against something
The car bottomed on the gravel.
Button
(US) A badge worn on clothes, fixed with a pin through the fabric.
The politician wore a bright yellow button with the slogan "Vote Smart" emblazoned on it.
Bottom
The lowest part of anything.
Footers appear at the bottoms of pages.
Button
(botany) A bud.
Bottom
A garment worn to cover the body below the torso.
There's a hole in her pyjama bottoms.
Button
The head of an unexpanded mushroom.
Bottom
Spirits poured into a glass before adding soda water.
A soda and a bottom of brandy
Button
(slang) The clitoris.
Bottom
The far end of somewhere.
There’s a fairy at the bottom of my garden.
I walked to the bottom of the street.
Button
(curling) The center (bullseye) of the house.
Bottom
Character, reliability, staying power, dignity, integrity or sound judgment.
Lack bottom
Button
(fencing) The soft circular tip at the end of a foil.
Bottom
Power of endurance.
Button
(poker) A plastic disk used to represent the person in last position in a poker game; also dealer's button.
Bottom
The base; the fundamental part; basic aspect.
Button
(poker) The player who is last to act after the flop, turn and river, who possesses the button.
Bottom
Low-lying land; a valley or hollow.
Where shall we go for a walk? How about Ashcombe Bottom?
Button
(archaic) A person who acts as a decoy.
Bottom
(usually: bottoms or bottomland) Low-lying land near a river with alluvial soil.
Button
A raised pavement marker to further indicate the presence of a pavement-marking painted stripe.
Bottom
(euphemism) The buttocks or anus.
Button
(aviation) The end of a runway.
Bottom
The lowest part of a container.
Button
A methaqualone tablet (used as a recreational drug).
Bottom
The bed of a body of water, as of a river, lake, or sea.
Button
A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, such as a door.
Bottom
An abyss.
Button
A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion.
Bottom
(nautical) A cargo vessel, a ship.
Button
A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.
Bottom
(nautical) Certain parts of a vessel, particularly the cargo hold or the portion of the ship that is always underwater.
Button
A small white blotch on a cat's coat.
Bottom
(baseball) The second half of an inning, the home team's turn at bat.
Button
A unit of length equal to 12 inch.
Bottom
(BDSM) A submissive in sadomasochistic sexual activity.
Button
(generally with the) The means for initiating a nuclear strike or similar cataclysmic occurrence.
Bottom
(gay slang) A man who prefers the receptive role in anal sex with men.
James and Lukas would make a great couple if they weren't both bottoms.
Button
(lutherie) In an instrument of the violin family, the near-semicircular shape extending from the top of the back plate of the instrument, meeting the heel of the neck.
Bottom
(particle physics) bottom quark.
Button
(lutherie) endbutton, part of a violin-family instrument.
Bottom
A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon.
Button
Synonym of adjuster.
Bottom
(obsolete) Dregs or grounds; lees; sediment.
Button
The least amount of care or interest; a whit or jot.
Bottom
(transitive) To furnish (something) with a bottom.
To bottom a chair
Button
(television) The punchy or suspenseful line of dialogue that concludes a scene.
Bottom
(transitive) To pour spirits into (a glass to be topped up with soda water).
Button
(comedy) The final joke at the end of a comedic act (such as a sketch, set, or scene).
Bottom
(obsolete) To wind (like a ball of thread etc.).
Button
(slang) A button man; a professional assassin.
Bottom
(transitive) To establish or found (something) on or upon.
Button
The final segment of a rattlesnake's rattle.
Bottom
To lie on the bottom of; to underlie, to lie beneath.
Button
A clove of garlic.
Bottom
To be based or grounded.
Button
(zoology) Pedicle; the attachment point for antlers in cervids.
Bottom
To reach or strike against the bottom of something, so as to impede free action.
Button
(transitive) To fasten with a button.
Bottom
(transitive) To reach the bottom of something.
Button
(intransitive) To be fastened by a button or buttons.
The coat will not button.
Bottom
To fall to the lowest point.
Button
(informal) To stop talking.
Bottom
To be the submissive partner in a BDSM relationship.
Button
A knob; a small ball; a small, roundish mass.
Bottom
To be anally penetrated in gay sex.
The only time I ever bottomed' in my life, my sphincter was pierced.
Button
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.
Bottom
The lowest or last place or position.
Those files should go on the bottom shelf.
Button
A bud; a germ of a plant.
Bottom
(transgender) Relating to the genitals.
Bottom dysphoria
Bottom surgery
Button
A piece of wood or metal, usually flat and elongated, turning on a nail or screw, to fasten something, as a door.
Bottom
The lowest part of anything; the foot; as, the bottom of a tree or well; the bottom of a hill, a lane, or a page.
Or dive into the bottom of the deep.
Button
A globule of metal remaining on an assay cupel or in a crucible, after fusion.
Bottom
The part of anything which is beneath the contents and supports them, as the part of a chair on which a person sits, the circular base or lower head of a cask or tub, or the plank floor of a ship's hold; the under surface.
Barrels with the bottom knocked out.
No two chairs were alike; such high backs and low backs and leather bottoms and worsted bottoms.
Button
To fasten with a button or buttons; to inclose or make secure with buttons; - often followed by up.
He was a tall, fat, long-bodied man, buttoned up to the throat in a tight green coat.
Bottom
That upon which anything rests or is founded, in a literal or a figurative sense; foundation; groundwork.
Button
To dress or clothe.
Bottom
The bed of a body of water, as of a river, lake, sea.
Button
To be fastened by a button or buttons; as, the coat will not button.
Bottom
The fundament; the buttocks.
Button
A round fastener sewn to shirts and coats etc to fit through buttonholes
Bottom
An abyss.
Button
An electrical switch operated by pressing a button;
The elevator was operated by push buttons
The push beside the bed operated a buzzer at the desk
Bottom
Low land formed by alluvial deposits along a river; low-lying ground; a dale; a valley.
Button
Any of various plant parts that resemble buttons
Bottom
The part of a ship which is ordinarily under water; hence, the vessel itself; a ship.
My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.
Not to sell the teas, but to return them to London in thesame bottoms in which they were shipped.
Button
A female sexual organ homologous to the penis
Bottom
Power of endurance; as, a horse of a good bottom.
Button
Provide with buttons;
Button a shirt
Bottom
Dregs or grounds; lees; sediment.
He was at the bottom of many excellent counsels.
Button
Fasten with buttons;
Button the dress
Bottom
A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon.
Silkworms finish their bottoms in . . . fifteen days.
Button
A small fastener on clothing.
I lost a button from my shirt.
Bottom
Of or pertaining to the bottom; fundamental; lowest; under; as, bottom rock; the bottom board of a wagon box; bottom prices.
Button
An informal term for a young person.
He's a bright little button!
Bottom
To found or build upon; to fix upon as a support; - followed by on or upon.
Action is supposed to be bottomed upon principle.
Those false and deceiving grounds upon which many bottom their eternal state].
Bottom
To furnish with a bottom; as, to bottom a chair.
Bottom
To reach or get to the bottom of.
Bottom
To rest, as upon an ultimate support; to be based or grounded; - usually with on or upon.
Find on what foundation any proposition bottoms.
Bottom
To reach or impinge against the bottom, so as to impede free action, as when the point of a cog strikes the bottom of a space between two other cogs, or a piston the end of a cylinder.
Bottom
To wind round something, as in making a ball of thread.
As you unwind her love from him,Lest it should ravel and be good to none,You must provide to bottom it on me.
Bottom
The lower side of anything
Bottom
The lowest part of anything;
They started at the bottom of the hill
Bottom
The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on;
He deserves a good kick in the butt
Are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?
Bottom
The second half of an inning; while the home team is at bat
Bottom
A depression forming the ground under a body of water;
He searched for treasure on the ocean bed
Bottom
Low-lying alluvial land near a river
Bottom
A cargo ship;
They did much of their overseas trade in foreign bottoms
Bottom
Provide with a bottom or a seat;
Bottom the chairs
Bottom
Strike the ground, as with a ship's bottom
Bottom
Come to understand
Bottom
Situated at the bottom or lowest position;
The bottom drawer
The top shelf
Bottom
At the bottom; lowest or last;
The bottom price
Bottom
The lowest rank;
Bottom member of the class
Bottom
The underside of something.
The bottom of the shoe was worn out.
Bottom
The furthest point or end.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Bottom
The basic nature or truth of an issue.
We need to get to the bottom of this problem.
FAQs
What does "Bottom" typically represent in a general context?
"Bottom" usually refers to the lowest part or base of something.
How is "Bottom" related to geographic locations?
"Bottom" can refer to the lowest point, like the bottom of a valley.
Can "Button" refer to a digital element?
Yes, "Button" can denote a clickable element in digital interfaces.
What happens when you click a "Button" on a website?
It typically triggers an action or response on the site.
Is "Bottom" used in figurative language?
Yes, like "getting to the bottom of an issue" meaning finding the truth.
Is "Bottom" always about depth?
Not always; it can also mean the furthest point or end of something.
How is "Bottom" used in sports?
In baseball, "bottom" can refer to the second half of an inning.
What's the primary function of a "Button" on clothing?
A "Button" is used as a fastener on clothing.
Are buttons only used in clothing?
No, they can be on machinery, digital interfaces, and other objects.
Is "pushing buttons" about fastening clothes?
No, it's an idiom meaning provoking or annoying someone.
Does "Bottom" have any technological relevance?
Yes, like referring to the base of a webpage or document.
Can "Bottom" relate to stocks or finance?
Yes, it can refer to the lowest price point before a recovery.
Is "Bottom" synonymous with "base"?
In many contexts, yes, they can be used interchangeably.
Can a "Button" be ornamental?
Yes, some buttons are purely decorative and don't fasten anything.
Is a "Button" on machinery always round?
No, buttons can come in various shapes depending on their function and design.
How is "Bottom" used in navigation?
It can refer to the seabed or the lowest depth a vessel can reach.
Do all shirts have buttons?
No, some might have zippers, clasps, or be pull-over styles.
Is "bottoming out" about reaching a physical base?
Not always; it can also mean reaching a low point in a figurative sense.
What do "button up" and "button down" mean?
They refer to fastening buttons, but also can mean finalizing or settling details.
Are buttons always functional?
No, some are purely decorative without a fastening purpose.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Harlon MossHarlon is a seasoned quality moderator and accomplished content writer for Difference Wiki. An alumnus of the prestigious University of California, he earned his degree in Computer Science. Leveraging his academic background, Harlon brings a meticulous and informed perspective to his work, ensuring content accuracy and excellence.
