beetle
/ˈbiːtəl/ noun, verb, adjective
Also a form of betel
Forms beetles beetling beetled bittle betel bittil
- noun Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest.
- noun (uncountable) A game of chance in which players attempt to complete a drawing of a beetle, different dice rolls allowing them to add the various body parts.
- verb To move (away) quickly, to scurry away. “He beetled off on his vacation.”
- adjective Protruding, jutting, overhanging. “beetle brows”
- verb (ambitransitive) To loom over; to extend or jut (above). “The heavy chimney beetled over the thatched roof.”
- noun A type of mallet with a large wooden head, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.
- noun A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; a beetling machine.
- verb To beat with a heavy mallet.
- verb To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine. “to beetle cotton goods”
- noun (UK, Australia, New Zealand) A small car, the Volkswagen Beetle (original version made 1938–2003, similar models made 1997–2010 and from 2011 to 2019).
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English bitle, bityl, bytylle, from Old English bitula, bitela, bītel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitilō, *bītil, from Proto-Germanic *bitilô, *bītilaz (“that which tends to bite, biter, beetle”), equivalent to bite + -le. Cognate with Old High German bicco (“beetle”), Danish bille (“beetle”), Icelandic bitil, bitul (“a bite, bit”), Faroese bitil (“small piece, bittock”).
From Middle English bitel-brouwed (“beetle-browed”). Possibly after beetle, from the fact that some beetles have bushy antennae.
From Middle English betel, from Old English bȳtel, bīetel (“hammer”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautil (“hammer, mallet”), equivalent to beat + -le. Cognate with Low German Bötel (“mallet”).
Borrowed from Portuguese bétele, from Malayalam വെറ്റില (veṟṟila) or Tamil வெற்றிலை (veṟṟilai).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A heavy mallet, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.
- noun A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; --called also beetling machine. Knight.
- verb To beat with a heavy mallet.
- verb To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine; as, to beetle cotton goods.
Etymology [OE. betel, AS. bitl, b, mallet, hammer, fr. beátan to beat. See Beat, v. t.]
Etymology [OE. bityl, bittle, AS. b, fr. b to bite. See Bite, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “beetle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details