Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also buttoned, button-up) silent.

1939		R. Chandler Big Sleep 48: Okey, keep buttoned, kid. No hard feelings.
1959		C. Himes Crazy Kill 52: I want you women to keep buttoned up about this.
1960		F. Villon (trans. Bonner) Le Jargon et Jobelin 177: Some rat always goes / and sings in front of cops. So boys, keep buttoned up.
1972		G.V. Higgins Friends of Eddie Coyle 41: The whole town’s buttoned up on this grand jury.
1976		M. Braly False Starts 328: You keep buttoned up and get back to camp.
1986		T. Philbin Under Cover 23: Is it buttoned up?
1999		K. Sampson Powder 349: He managed to stay buttoned up.
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 7: Sad button-up policeboy if ever there was one waitin for the big go go go.

2. all prepared, sorted satisfactorily.

1940		Bulletins from Britain 11 Dec. 3: all buttoned up. Thoroughly prepared.
1944		P. Kendall Dict. Service Sl. n.p.: all buttoned up . . . orders carried out.
1946		G. Gibson Enemy Coast Ahead (1955) 209: With this technique at last buttoned up.
1956		J. Curtis Look Long Upon a Monkey 60: Don’t run away with the idea everything was buttoned up. Still out in the open.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 92: You have everything buttoned up.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 111: Guy was keen to get things buttoned up.

3. (also buttoned down) repressed.

1958		T. Capote Breakfast at Tiffany’s 90: It’s him to a T. Buttoned up and constipated.
1962		J. Blake letter 12 Oct. in Joint (1972) 190: I kept running into opposition from the buttoned-up citizens when I tried to find a square gig.
1974		J. Lahr Hot to Trot 183: That buttoned down WASP weewee couldn’t offend a nun.
2000		T. Blacker Kill Your Darlings 178: A mere handshake was too buttoned-up to be acceptable, a hug too aggressively heartfelt.
2000		Guardian G2 30 May 24: His best buttoned-up performance was as the tough-yet-tender detective.