buttons, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

buttons n.

[their uniforms]

1. as part of a uniform.

(a) a page-boy, a doorman.

1854		T. Buckley Sydenham Greenfinch 8: [A][ buttons of diminutive but obese proportions [...] obeyed the call.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn).
1861		Thackeray Lovel the Widower 206: He [...] rushes out of the room over Buttons, entering with the afternoon tea.
1874		H. Mayhew London Characters 319: This page, or ‘buttons,’ begins with a wage of £8 and his clothes.
1880		R. Rowe Picked Up in the Streets 53: I was his pupil, not his Buttons.
1892		‘Little Crossing-Sweeper’ in ‘F. Anstey’ Mr Punch’s Model Music Hall 85: A British Buttons ain’t afeard of Burgulars!
1897		E.W. Townsend Chimmie Fadden 26: I goes t’ de club what de Duchess tells me and rings de bell, and a Buttons opens de door.
1901		Monroe & Northup ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:iii 137: buttons, n. Bell-boy.
1915		Omaha Dly Bee (NE) 28 Feb. 2: Goodbye to ‘buttons’ who used to come pussyfooting trough the halls of hotels at all hours .
1922–24		O.O. McIntyre White Light Nights 39: ‘Buttons’ from the fashionable hotels.
1956		‘Charles Raven’ Und. Nights 42: He was sent to London to be buttons to the old dear’s sister.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 793: buttons – A messenger.

(b) (also button man, his buttons) a police officer; occas. sing.

1885		Indoor Paupers 45: So the thing goes on until some one on the watch cries, ‘Nix, lads, buttons!’ – the warning that the taskmaster is approaching.
1895		S.F. Chron. 6 June 11/5: I gives his buttons a warm spill.
1911		Wash. Post 10 Dec. 4/4: In to the discard with ‘cop’ [...] if you want to be up to the very minute you will refer to the guardian of the peace as a ‘dick,’ or a ‘gendarme’ or a ‘buttons.’.
1929		Hostetter & Beesley It’s a Racket! 221: button—Policeman’s star; policeman.
1936		‘Josephine Tey’ Shilling for Candles 17: Mrs. Pitts was a policeman’s widow, and no apprehension showed on her tight little face. Buttons coming up the path meant for her a meal in demand.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl. §460.17: Policeman [...] button.
1946		J. Evans Halo in Blood (1988) 78: ‘She didn’t fog him; no. Matter of fact she called the buttons herself.’ ‘Buttons?’ ‘Police.’.
1953		R. Chandler Long Good-Bye 9: I saw a cop car double-parked and the two buttons in it staring at something over by a shop window on the sidewalk.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1970		T. Lewis Jack’s Return Home 174: Frank’s seen the movie. He’s going to go to the button men.
2004		E. Weiner Drop Dead, My Lovely (2005) 210: The deal is, I don’t go to the buttons and sing my little heart out.

2. (drugs) mescaline; peyote, which is synthesized from peyote buttons; also in sing. as button n.¹ (4b)).

1969		R.R. Lingeman Drugs from A to Z (1970).
1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).
1981		D.E. Miller Bk of Jargon 337: buttons: Peyote.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 5: Buttons — Mescaline.

3. (US teen) a television remote control.

2005