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Webster 1913 Edition
Bachelor's button
Bach′e-lor’s but′ton
,(Bot.)
A plant with flowers shaped like buttons; especially, several species of
Ranunculus
, and the cornflower (Centaurea cyanus
) and globe amaranth (Gomphrena
). ☞
Bachelor’s buttons
, a name given to several flowers “from their similitude to the jagged cloathe buttons, anciently worne in this kingdom,” according to Johnson's Gerarde, p. 472 (1633)
; but by other writers ascribed to “a habit of country fellows to carry them in their pockets to divine their success with their sweethearts.” Dr. Prior.