hold by the button
verb1
Archaic, Idiomatic To detain in conversation to the point of weariness or tedium; to bore while tallking to
- When a slanderer addresses himself to any one, let him only withhold his attention, while he argues thus with himself: --- Why does this man hold me by the button, and seem so desirous of calling my attention to another's failings?1798, A Clergyman of the County of Kent, Crude Thoughts: