beaver
UK /ˈbiːvə/ · US /ˈbivɚ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms beavers beavering beavered Beever
- noun (countable) A semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet, native to the Northern Hemisphere.
- noun The fur of the beaver.
- noun (countable) A hat, of various shapes, made from a felted beaver fur (or later of silk), fashionable in Europe between 1550 and 1850.
- noun (Canada, US) Beaver pelts as an article of exchange or as a standard of value.
- noun Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woollen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.
- noun A brown colour, like that of a beaver.
- noun (countable, backgammon) 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.
- noun (countable, slang) A beard or a bearded person.
- verb To form a felt-like texture, similar to the way beaver fur is used for felt-making.
- verb To work hard.
- verb (logging, slang) To cut a continuous ring around a tree that one is felling.
- verb (backgammon) After being doubled, to immediately double the stakes again, a move that keeps the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.
- verb (slang) To spot a beard in a game of beaver.
- noun Butter.
- proper noun (countable) A surname.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska.
- proper noun A town in Carroll County, Arkansas.
- proper noun A minor city in Amaqua Township, Boone County, Iowa.
- proper noun A township and census-designated place therein, in Barton County, Kansas.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Floyd County, Kentucky.
Synonyms
castorette castor castoreum beaver brown beard beardo beardy beav nest beaver fur Oregonian dress hat high hat opera hat silk hat stovepipe top hat topper beaver away
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.
See bevor.
* As an English surname, capitalization of beaver. This sense is also translated from several Native American names such as Cheyenne homa'e and Creek Echaswvlke of the same meaning. Doublet of Bieber and Bever.
* Also as an English surname, from the placename Belvoir in Leicestershire.
Calque of Canadian French Castor. From French castor (“beaver”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun An amphibious rodent, of the genus Castor.
- noun The fur of the beaver.
- noun That piece of armor which protected the lower part of the face, whether forming a part of the helmet or fixed to the breastplate. It was so constructed (with joints or otherwise) that the wearer could raise or lower it to eat and drink.
Etymology [OE. bever, AS. beofer, befer; akin to D. bever, OHG. bibar, G. biber, Sw. bäfver, Dan. bæver, Lith. bebru, Russ. bobr', Gael. beabhar, Corn. befer, L. fiber, and Skr. babhrus large ichneumon; also as an adj., brown, the animal being probably named from its color. Brown.]
Etymology [OE. baviere, bauier, beavoir, bever; fr. F. bavière, fr. bave slaver, drivel, foam, OF., prattle, drivel, perh. orig. an imitative word. Bavière, according to Cotgrave, is the bib put before a (slavering) child.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “beaver”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details