BEETLE

beetle, beetling

(adjective) jutting or overhanging; “beetle brows”

beetle

(noun) insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings

mallet, beetle

(noun) a tool resembling a hammer but with a large head (usually wooden); used to drive wedges or ram down paving stones or for crushing or beating or flattening or smoothing

beetle

(verb) beat with a beetle

beetle

(verb) fly or go in a manner resembling a beetle; “He beetled up the staircase”; “They beetled off home”

overhang, beetle

(verb) be suspended over or hang over; “This huge rock beetles over the edge of the town”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

beetle (plural beetles)

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.

(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.

Alternative letter-case form of Beetle (“car”)

Synonyms

• (insect): bug (U.S. colloquial)

Verb

beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)

To move away quickly, to scurry away.

Etymology 2

Adjective

beetle (comparative more beetle, superlative most beetle)

Protruding, jutting, overhanging. (As in beetle brows.)

Verb

beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)

To loom over; to extend or jut.

Etymology 3

Noun

beetle (plural beetles)

A type of mallet with a large wooden head, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.

A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; a beetling machine.

Verb

beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)

To beat with a heavy mallet.

To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine.

Noun

Beetle (plural Beetles)

A small car, the Volkswagen Beetle (original version made 1938–2003, similar models made 1997–2010 and since 2011)

Synonyms

• Bug

Source: Wiktionary


Bee"tle, n. Etym: [OE. betel, AS. bitl, b, mallet, hammer, fr. beátan to beat. See Beat, v. t.]

1. A heavy mallet, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.

2. A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; -- called also beetling machine. Knight.

Bee"tle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beetled; p. pr. & vb. n. Beetling.]

1. To beat with a heavy mallet.

2. To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine; as, to beetle cotton goods.

Bee"tle, n. Etym: [OE. bityl, bittle, AS. b, fr. b to bite. See Bite, v. t.]

Definition: Any insect of the order Coleoptera, having four wings, the outer pair being stiff cases for covering the others when they are folded up. See Coleoptera. Beetle mite (Zoöl.), one of many species of mites, of the family Oribatidæ, parasitic on beetles.

– Black beetle, the common large black cockroach (Blatta orientalis).

Bee"tle, v. i. Etym: [See Beetlebrowed.]

Definition: To extend over and beyond the base or support; to overhang; to jut. To the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his base into the sea. Shak. Each beetling rampart, and each tower sublime. Wordsworth.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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