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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

beaver en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbivɚ/ (General-American)
  • bēʹvər (General-American)
  • /ˈbiːvə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English bever, from Old English befer, from Proto-West Germanic *bebru, from Proto-Germanic *bebruz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰébʰrus (“beaver”). Cognate with West Frisian bever, Dutch bever, French bièvre, German Biber, dialectal Swedish bjur. Non-Germanic cognates include Welsh befer, Latin fiber, Lithuanian bẽbras, Russian бобр (bobr), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬭𐬀 (bauura), and Sanskrit बभ्रु (bábhru, “mongoose; ichneumon”). Slang use to refer to a woman evolved from use to refer to pubic hair, which evolved from use to refer to beards, which evolved from use to refer to the furry animal or its fur.

Meanings

  1. (countable) A semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet, native to the Northern Hemisphere.
    • Then, for the safeguard of his personage, He did appoint a warlike equipage Of foreign beasts, not in the forest bred, But part by land and part by water fed; For tyranny is with strange aid supported. Then unto him all monstrous beasts resorted Bred of two kinds, as Griffons, Minotaurs, Crocodiles, Dragons, Beavers, and Centaurs: With those himself he strengthened mightily, That fear he need no force of enemy. 1591, Edmund Spenser, “Prosopopoia; or, Mother Hubberd’s Tale”, in Edmund Spenser, edited by Charles Cowden Clarke, The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, published 1868, page 112, lines 1117–1126:
  2. (countable, uncountable) The fur of the beaver.
  3. (countable) A hat, of various shapes, made from a felted beaver fur (or later of silk), fashionable in Europe between 1550 and 1850.
    • a broad beaver slouched over his eyes 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:
    • The woman's hair and woman's beaver had both been jerked off, exposing the cropped head of a man... 1896, Owen Rhoscomyl, For the White Rose of Arno:
  4. (Canada, US, countable, uncountable) Beaver pelts as an article of exchange or as a standard of value.
  5. (countable, uncountable) Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woollen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.
  6. (countable, uncountable) A brown colour, like that of a beaver.
  7. (countable) A move in response to being doubled, in which one immediately doubles the stakes again, keeping the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.
  8. (alt-of, countable, uncountable) Alternative letter-case form of Beaver (“member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement”).
    alt of Beaver
  9. (countable, slang) A beard or a bearded person.
    • The beards were false ones. I could see the elastic going over their ears. In other words, I had fallen among a band of criminals who were not wilful beavers, but had merely assumed the fungus for purposes of disguise. 1936, P. G. Wodehouse, Laughing Gas:
  10. (historical, slang, uncountable) A game, in which points are scored by spotting beards.
  11. (Canada, US, countable, slang) The pubic hair near a vulva or a vulva itself; (attributively) denoting films or literature featuring nude women.
    • […] once she wore none at all, swears to this day that he saw her beaver that fateful Friday night. 2010, Dennis McFadden, Hart’s Grove: Stories:
    • Let’s get some of that Saturday night beaver. 1997, Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights (motion picture), spoken by Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly):
    • Between you and me, uh, she might have been fifteen, but when you get that little red beaver right up there in front of you, I don’t think it's crazy at all and I don’t think you do either. 1975, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, directed by Miloš Forman, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (motion picture), spoken by Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson):
    • The store sold beaver books, fuck-suck books, homo books, novels, films, slides, playing cards, dildoes, cock rings, S&M gear, and French ticklers. 2004, James Ellroy, Destination: Morgue! L.A. Tales, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, pages 127–128:
    • Finally it came on. It was a beauty, a beaver flick made in the late 1970s. It was called Big Black Leather Splits. 1969, Harlan Ellison, “A Boy and His Dog”, in The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World, New York: Open Road Media, published 2014, →ISBN:
  12. (US, countable, offensive, slang, uncountable) A woman, especially one who is sexually attractive.
    • “10-4, Beaver [CB talk for a female], we’re all going down to Plains tomorrow after Jimmy Carter wins.” 1977 January 13, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, “Jimmy Carter: New South Burn”, in Rolling Stone, [San Francisco or New York], retrieved 01 Dec 2022:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
beaver Number=Plur error-unknown-tag lexicographic
Beaver alternative lexicographic
beavers Number=Plur lexicographic

Coordinates

more at Thesaurus:rodent · beaverette · castorette · muroid · nutria · nutria · capybara

Deriveds

beaver-eater · Beaver City · busy as a beaver · beavage · Beaver Creek · Beavercreek · beaverish · beaver eater · beaver tail · giant beaver · land-beaver · beaver lamb · European beaver · beaver hay · busy beaver · Beverley · busy beaver function · beaverlike · Beaver State · Beaverton · mountain beaver · beaver fever · beaverboard · beaver trader · Beaver Falls · split beaver · beaver deceiver · werebeaver · beaver dam · eat beaver · beavered · beavertail · busy little beaver · American beaver · beaverwood · beaver rat · Beaver County · made beaver · beaver shooter · sea beaver · in beaver · beavery · beaverkin · bank beaver · Beaver Kill · beaverling · beaver moon · eager beaver · beaverette · beaverskin · Canadian beaver · beaverly · Beaver Dam · beav

Hypernyms

critter · animal · mammal · vertebrate · rodent · organism · creature · gnawer · fur

Synonyms

beard · beaver brown · nest · beardo · beardy · castoreum · castor · beav · castor · castor · castorette

Translations (200)

bg бо́бър (semiaquatic rodent) · moe amishkᵘ (semiaquatic rodent) · sh dabar (semiaquatic rodent) · nn bever (semiaquatic rodent) · af bewer (semiaquatic rodent) · ru бобёр (semiaquatic rodent) · kpv мой (semiaquatic rodent) · ko 비버 (semiaquatic rodent) · fi tummanruskea (colour) · bua минжэ (semiaquatic rodent) · pot mek (semiaquatic rodent) · gd beathadach (semiaquatic rodent) · et kobras (semiaquatic rodent) · paw kituks (semiaquatic rodent) · xpq tumôhq (semiaquatic rodent) · et piiber (semiaquatic rodent) · sv bäver (semiaquatic rodent) · wa castôr (semiaquatic rodent) · th บีเวอร์ (semiaquatic rodent) · gd los-leathann (semiaquatic rodent) · kut sina (semiaquatic rodent) · fi ryijy (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · nb bever (semiaquatic rodent) · aht tsaʼ (semiaquatic rodent) · de Bär (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · ky кемчет (semiaquatic rodent) · mic gopit (semiaquatic rodent) · syc ܟܠܒܐ ܕܡܝܐ (semiaquatic rodent) · evn чэлбэн (semiaquatic rodent) · sah буобура (semiaquatic rodent) · oj amik (semiaquatic rodent) · sq kastor (semiaquatic rodent) · fa ببر (semiaquatic rodent) · tg қундуз (semiaquatic rodent) · hsb bobr (semiaquatic rodent) · sq kastori (semiaquatic rodent) · ca castor (semiaquatic rodent) · ae 𐬠𐬀𐬡𐬭𐬀 (semiaquatic rodent) · uz qunduz (semiaquatic rodent) · tcb tsá' (semiaquatic rodent) · ar سَمُّور (semiaquatic rodent) · wa bive (semiaquatic rodent) · cmn 河狸 (semiaquatic rodent) · cy llostlydan (semiaquatic rodent) · cy afanc (semiaquatic rodent) · ja 海狸 (semiaquatic rodent) · ckb سەگڵاو (semiaquatic rodent) · he בונה (semiaquatic rodent) · fr (fou)foune (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · ltg babrīne (semiaquatic rodent) · tht tsa’ (semiaquatic rodent) · pl bóbr (semiaquatic rodent) · haa tsà’ (semiaquatic rodent) · sk bobor (semiaquatic rodent) · csb bòber (semiaquatic rodent) · gl befre (semiaquatic rodent) · lb Biber (semiaquatic rodent) · yi ביבער (semiaquatic rodent) · an bribre (semiaquatic rodent) · it castoro (semiaquatic rodent) · smn maaijuv (semiaquatic rodent) · es castor (semiaquatic rodent) · ast castor (semiaquatic rodent) · grc κάστωρ (semiaquatic rodent) · lt bebras (semiaquatic rodent) · twf pʼóyona (semiaquatic rodent) · hu hód (semiaquatic rodent) · el κάστορας (semiaquatic rodent) · fi tuhero (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · fr castor (semiaquatic rodent) · tk gunduz (semiaquatic rodent) · sc castoro (semiaquatic rodent) · pl bobry (fur) · mn минж (semiaquatic rodent) · id biwara (semiaquatic rodent) · pdt Bieba (semiaquatic rodent) · wam tummunk (semiaquatic rodent) · zza buber (semiaquatic rodent) · ltg babrys (semiaquatic rodent) · udm мый (semiaquatic rodent) · dsb bobr (semiaquatic rodent) · gd biobhair (semiaquatic rodent) · enm bever (semiaquatic rodent) · fr bièvre (semiaquatic rodent) · hi ऊदबिलाव (semiaquatic rodent) · apw chaa (semiaquatic rodent) · evn дюлкун (semiaquatic rodent) · it figa (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · sc castorru (semiaquatic rodent) · oc vibre (semiaquatic rodent) · ba ҡондоҙ (semiaquatic rodent) · ru бобр (semiaquatic rodent) · fo bævur (semiaquatic rodent) · sh дабар (semiaquatic rodent) · hop pahona (semiaquatic rodent) · fi majava (semiaquatic rodent) · kw lostledan (semiaquatic rodent) · chn ina (semiaquatic rodent) · ar قُنْدُس (semiaquatic rodent) · xsv bebrus (semiaquatic rodent) · eu kastore (semiaquatic rodent) · hy կուղբ (semiaquatic rodent) · sv mus (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · fr chatte (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · nv chaaʼ (semiaquatic rodent) · de Biberfell (fur) · zza samur (diq) (semiaquatic rodent) · be бабёр (semiaquatic rodent) · sw biva (semiaquatic rodent) · da bæver (semiaquatic rodent) · nb bjor (semiaquatic rodent) · nds-de Bever (semiaquatic rodent) · la fīber (semiaquatic rodent) · ari čitUx (semiaquatic rodent) · se mádjit (semiaquatic rodent) · fa بیدستر (semiaquatic rodent) · mrj ындыр (semiaquatic rodent) · ang befer (semiaquatic rodent) · kw bever (semiaquatic rodent) · kk құндыз (semiaquatic rodent) · fi karvakolmio (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · cs bobr (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · rom vidra (semiaquatic rodent) · eo kastoro (semiaquatic rodent) · ms memerang (semiaquatic rodent) · osa žąąhpáto (semiaquatic rodent) · az qunduz (semiaquatic rodent) · vo biv (semiaquatic rodent) · fur castôr (semiaquatic rodent) · nn bjor (semiaquatic rodent) · sl bober (semiaquatic rodent) · ug قۇندۇز (semiaquatic rodent) · is bjór (semiaquatic rodent) · cr amisk (semiaquatic rodent) · tr kunduz (semiaquatic rodent) · mi piwara (semiaquatic rodent) · evn хатала (semiaquatic rodent) · rm castur (semiaquatic rodent) · de Biber (semiaquatic rodent) · ka თახვი (semiaquatic rodent) · apw cha (semiaquatic rodent) · chr ᏙᏯ (semiaquatic rodent) · fi majavannahka (fur) · ro biber (semiaquatic rodent) · fr minou (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · cs bobr (semiaquatic rodent) · et majajas (semiaquatic rodent) · cay nagányʼagǫʼ (semiaquatic rodent) · fa سگ آبی (semiaquatic rodent) · kk қамшат (semiaquatic rodent) · lld castour (semiaquatic rodent) · ga béabhar (semiaquatic rodent) · taa tso' (semiaquatic rodent) · rsk бобер (semiaquatic rodent) · pt castor (semiaquatic rodent) · ja ビーバー (semiaquatic rodent) · hi ऊद (semiaquatic rodent) · nrf castor (semiaquatic rodent) · cr ᐊᒥᐢᐠ (semiaquatic rodent) · my ဘီဗာဖျံ (semiaquatic rodent) · is bifur (semiaquatic rodent) · ms berang-berang (semiaquatic rodent) · fro bievre (semiaquatic rodent) · la castor (semiaquatic rodent) · gl castor (semiaquatic rodent) · tew oyo (semiaquatic rodent) · br avank (semiaquatic rodent) · syc ܓܪܕܐ (semiaquatic rodent) · rom vidroy (semiaquatic rodent) · ca conillet (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · mdf ведьбине (semiaquatic rodent) · ro castor (semiaquatic rodent) · cmn 海狸 (semiaquatic rodent) · nl bever (semiaquatic rodent) · lv bebrs (semiaquatic rodent) · vi hải ly (semiaquatic rodent) · mk дабар (semiaquatic rodent) · nnt nataque (semiaquatic rodent) · mt kastur (semiaquatic rodent) · mi pīwa (semiaquatic rodent) · tl kastor (semiaquatic rodent) · one tsyoní꞉tuʼ (semiaquatic rodent) · uk бобе́р (semiaquatic rodent) · ru мохнатка (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · es chocho (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · unm tëmakwe (semiaquatic rodent) · tr kastor (semiaquatic rodent) · ms beaver (semiaquatic rodent) · see nöganyáʼgöh (semiaquatic rodent) · mhr умдыр (semiaquatic rodent) · bua бообор (semiaquatic rodent) · ota قوندوز (semiaquatic rodent) · cv хӑнтӑр (semiaquatic rodent) · alq amik (semiaquatic rodent) · da mis (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · osa žápe (semiaquatic rodent) · fy bever (semiaquatic rodent) · ro păsărică (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · bg катеричка (vulva or pubic hair near a vulva) · oma zhábe (semiaquatic rodent)

wikidata: Q856188 · wikidata: Q47542

beaver en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbivɚ/ (General-American)
  • bēʹvər (General-American)
  • /ˈbiːvə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English bever, from Old English befer, from Proto-West Germanic *bebru, from Proto-Germanic *bebruz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰébʰrus (“beaver”). Cognate with West Frisian bever, Dutch bever, French bièvre, German Biber, dialectal Swedish bjur. Non-Germanic cognates include Welsh befer, Latin fiber, Lithuanian bẽbras, Russian бобр (bobr), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬭𐬀 (bauura), and Sanskrit बभ्रु (bábhru, “mongoose; ichneumon”). Slang use to refer to a woman evolved from use to refer to pubic hair, which evolved from use to refer to beards, which evolved from use to refer to the furry animal or its fur.

Meanings

  1. To form a felt-like texture, similar to the way beaver fur is used for felt-making.
    • Without these attentions the woad will not beaver well, a term descriptive of the fineness of the capillary filaments into which it draws out when broken between the finger and thumb. 1799, Arthur Young, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Lincoln, London, page 155:
  2. To work hard.
    • When A. G. Dickens published his English Reformation in 1964 the archival beavering of a generation of graduate students was given its imprimatur in the claim to understand how the English people felt about religious change—largely, according to Dickens, positively. 2017, Felicity Heal, “Changing Interpretations of the British Reformations”, in Ulinka Rublack, editor, The Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformations, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 234:
  3. (qualifier:logging, slang) To cut a continuous ring around a tree that one is felling.
  4. After being doubled, to immediately double the stakes again, a move that keeps the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.
  5. (slang) To spot a beard in a game of beaver.
    • Beavering of foreign visitors does not count. This is a rule, but it is never carried out. 1922 October 13, Roanoke World-News, Roanoke, Virginia, retrieved 02 Dec 2022, page 6:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
beavering Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
beavered Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
beavered Tense=Past lexicographic
beavers Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Deriveds

beaver away

beaver en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbivɚ/ (General-American)
  • bēʹvər (General-American)
  • /ˈbiːvə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio

Etymology

See bevor.

Meanings

  1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of bevor (“part of a helmet”).
    alt of bevor
    • As each one brings a little of himself to what he sees you brought the trappings of your historic preoccupations, so that Monsieur flattered you by presenting himself with beaver up like Hamlet's father's ghost! 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, or the Prince of Darkness, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 128:
    • Lord Stafford’s father, Duke of Buckingham, Is either slain or wounded dangerously; I cleft his beaver with a downright blow: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
    • 1951 Adaptation of the 1885 Ormsby translation of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, correcting Ormsby as to the portion of the helmet referred to by Cervantes (see note 11 to chapter II) at the suggestion of Juan Hartzenbusch, a 19th-century director of the National Library of Spain. They laid a table for him at the door of the inn for the sake of the air, and the host brought him a portion of ill-soaked and worse cooked stockfish, and a piece of bread as black and mouldy as his own armour; but a laughble sight it was to see him eating, for having his helmet on and the beaver up, he could not with his own hands put anything into his mouth unless some one else placed it there, and this service one of the ladies rendered him.
    • With trembling hands her beaver he untied, / Which done, he saw, and seeing knew her face. 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, lxvii
    • Without alighting from his horse, the conqueror called for a bowl of wine, and opening the beaver, or lower part of his helmet, announced that he quaffed it, “To all true English hearts, and to the confusion of foreign tyrants.” 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
beavers Number=Plur lexicographic

beaver en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbivɚ/ (General-American)
  • bēʹvər (General-American)
  • /ˈbiːvə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • (US) audio

Meanings

  1. Butter.
    • Butter – Beaver. [1754, The Scoundrel’s Dictionary, London, page 15: