Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Any insect belonging to the order Coleoptera (which see).
- To be prominent; extend out; overhang; jut.
- To use a beetle on; beat with a heavy wooden mallet, as linen or cotton cloth, as a substitute for mangling.
- To finish cloth by means of a beetling-machine.
- Shaggy; prominent: used in beetle brow (also written
beetle-brow ). - noun A heavy wooden mallet, used to drive wedges, consolidate earth, etc.
- noun A wooden pestle-shaped utensil used for mashing potatoes, for beating linen, etc.
- noun Same as
beetling-machine .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- 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 . - noun 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 . - noun (Zoöl.) one of many species of mites, of the family
Oribatidæ , parasitic on beetles. - noun the common large black cockroach (
Blatta orientalis ). - transitive verb To beat with a heavy mallet.
- transitive verb To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine.
- intransitive verb To extend over and beyond the base or support; to overhang; to jut.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of numerous species of
insect in the orderColeoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest. - verb To move away quickly, to
scurry away. - verb To
loom over; toextend orjut . - noun A type of
mallet with a large wooden head.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb be suspended over or hang over
- adjective jutting or overhanging
- 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
- verb beat with a beetle
- verb fly or go in a manner resembling a beetle
- noun insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Strangely enough, in the novel Have Space-Suit, Will Travel, Robert Heinlein used the term beetle tracking to describe the sort of typically un-serious courses that the protagonist was expected to take in high school; Heinlein was just as disparaging of the same sort of courses encountered in the typical American college campus.
A master’s degree in Beatles studies. Ann Althouse 2009
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"The more habitat we acquire, the less risk the beetle is facing, the more can be done by property owners to secure their shorelines," said Joe Gill, deputy secretary to Griffin.
Calvert homeowners gain hope but still fear cliff erosion Christy Goodman 2010
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"The more habitat we acquire, the less risk the beetle is facing, the more can be done by property owners to secure their shorelines," said Joe Gill, deputy secretary to Griffin.
Calvert homeowners gain hope but still fear cliff erosion Christy Goodman 2010
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This QuestioningEverything dung beetle is typical of the devious and petty nature of the GOP and their imbecilic supporters.
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But the beetle is just part of the problem, according to state and federal officials.
From Calvert County cliffside properties, homeowners battle tiger beetle, time Christy Goodman 2010
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"The more habitat we acquire, the less risk the beetle is facing, the more can be done by property owners to secure their shorelines," said Joe Gill, deputy secretary to Griffin.
Calvert homeowners gain hope but still fear cliff erosion Christy Goodman 2010
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Research carried out by Benjamin Duval and Walter Whitford at New Mexico State University has revealed that the beetle is speeding up the degradation of grasslands in the Chihuahua desert ...
Archive 2008-03-01 2008
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This beetle is found elsewhere in Europe (and Russia).
Archive 2007-03-01 2007
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A bark beetle is infesting trees on national forest land in the West.
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A bark beetle is infesting trees on national forest land in the West.
arielarielariel commented on the word beetle
Someday I will name my cat beetle.
December 6, 2006
yarb commented on the word beetle
An adjective used almost exclusively to describe one of two verbs: cliff and brow.
November 8, 2007
treeseed commented on the word beetle
See splitting maul
February 6, 2008
myth commented on the word beetle
But just then the moon, sailing through the black clouds, appeared behind the jagged crest of a beetling, pine-clad rock, and by its light I saw around us a ring of wolves, with white teeth and lolling red tongues, with long, sinewy limbs and shaggy hair. - Dracula
March 15, 2009
zc0000 commented on the word beetle
Then she screamed and climbed up on the chair. She was pointing to something on the floor.
“Over there!” she screamed. “Look! It’s a beetle...!!”
May 16, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word beetle
"To make one's way or move like a beetle: "Chambermaids . . . beetled from bedroom to bedroom loaded with . . . champagne” ( Vanity Fair)."
--from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
September 18, 2014