push the right buttons

verb

To take suitable actions, or exert suitable influence on people, to achieve some desired result.

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Meanings

verbpush the right buttons (third-person singular simple present pushes the right buttons, present participle pushing the right buttons, simple past and past participle pushed the right buttons)

present singular third person pushes the right buttons · participle present pushing the right buttons · participle past pushed the right buttons · past pushed the right buttons

  1. informalTo take suitable actions, or exert suitable influence on people, to achieve some desired result.
Cite this entry
APA

push the right buttons. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/push%20the%20right%20buttons

MLA

“push the right buttons.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/push%20the%20right%20buttons. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “push the right buttons,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/push%20the%20right%20buttons.

Source: push the right buttons on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.