beaver
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbiːvə/
enpr: bēʹvər
ipa: /ˈbivɚ/
rhymes: -iːvə(ɹ)
homophone: Belvoir
homophone: bever
homophone: bevor
Forms: form: beavers
form: beaver
form: Beaver
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.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 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:
glosses: A semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet, native to the Northern Hemisphere.
synonyms: castorette
glosses: The fur of the beaver.
examples: text: a broad beaver slouched over his eyes
ref: 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:
text: The woman's hair and woman's beaver had both been jerked off, exposing the cropped head of a man...
ref: 1896, Owen Rhoscomyl, For the White Rose of Arno:
synonyms: word: castor
word: castoreum
glosses: A hat, of various shapes, made from a felted beaver fur (or later of silk), fashionable in Europe between 1550 and 1850.
glosses: Beaver pelts as an article of exchange or as a standard of value.
synonyms: castor
glosses: Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woollen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.
synonyms: beaver brown
castor
glosses: A brown colour, like that of a beaver.
topics: backgammon
games
glosses: 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.
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of Beaver (“member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement”).
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1936, P. G. Wodehouse, Laughing Gas:
synonyms: beard
beardo
beardy
glosses: A beard or a bearded person.
glosses: A game, in which points are scored by spotting beards.
examples: text: Finally it came on. It was a beauty, a beaver flick made in the late 1970s. It was called Big Black Leather Splits.
ref: 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:
text: 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.
ref: 1975, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, directed by Miloš Forman, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (motion picture), spoken by Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson):
text: Let’s get some of that Saturday night beaver.
ref: 1997, Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights (motion picture), spoken by Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly):
text: The store sold beaver books, fuck-suck books, homo books, novels, films, slides, playing cards, dildoes, cock rings, S&M gear, and French ticklers.
ref: 2004, James Ellroy, Destination: Morgue! L.A. Tales, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, pages 127–128:
text: […] once she wore none at all, swears to this day that he saw her beaver that fateful Friday night.
ref: 2010, Dennis McFadden, Hart’s Grove: Stories:
synonyms: word: beav
word: nest
glosses: The pubic hair near a vulva or a vulva itself; (attributively) denoting films or literature featuring nude women.
examples: text: “10-4, Beaver [CB talk for a female], we’re all going down to Plains tomorrow after Jimmy Carter wins.”
ref: 1977 January 13, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, “Jimmy Carter: New South Burn”, in Rolling Stone, [San Francisco or New York], retrieved 01 Dec 2022:
glosses: A woman, especially one who is sexually attractive.
Derived terms: American beaver
bank beaver
beav
beavage
beaverboard
Beaver City
Beaver County
Beavercreek
Beaver Creek
beaver dam
Beaver Dam
beaver deceiver
beaver-eater
beaver eater
beavered
beaverette
Beaver Falls
beaver fever
beaver hay
beaverish
Beaver Kill
beaverkin
beaver lamb
beaverlike
beaverling
beaverly
beaver moon
beaver rat
beaver shooter
beaverskin
Beaver State
beavertail
beaver tail
Beaverton
beaver trader
beaverwood
beavery
Beverley
busy as a beaver
busy beaver
busy beaver function
busy little beaver
Canadian beaver
eager beaver
eat beaver
European beaver
giant beaver
in beaver
land-beaver
made beaver
mountain beaver
sea beaver
split beaver
werebeaver