Beetle - Definitions from Dictionary.com

16 results for: Beetle

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bee·tle1

Audio Help [beet-l] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -tled, -tling.

–noun

1.	any of numerous insects of the order Coleoptera, characterized by hard, horny forewings that cover and protect the membranous flight wings.

2.	(loosely) any of various insects resembling the beetle, as a cockroach.

–verb (used without object)

3.	Chiefly British. to move quickly; scurry: He beetled off to catch the train.

[Origin: bef. 900; late ME betylle, bityl, OE bitela (bitel- biting (bit- bite + -el adj. suffix) + -a n. suffix)

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Beetle

To learn more about Beetle visit Britannica.com

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bee·tle2

Audio Help [beet-l] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, -tled, -tling.

–noun

1.	a heavy hammering or ramming instrument, usually of wood, used to drive wedges, force down paving stones, compress loose earth, etc.

2.	any of various wooden instruments for beating linen, mashing potatoes, etc.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to use a beetle on; drive, ram, beat, or crush with a beetle.

4.	to finish (cloth) with a beetling machine.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME betel, OE bétl, bȳtel hammer (c. MLG bétel chisel), equiv. to bé(a)t- beat + -il n. suffix

]

—Related forms

beetler, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bee·tle3

Audio Help [beet-l] Pronunciation Key adjective, verb, -tled, -tling.

–adjective

1.	projecting; overhanging: beetle brows.

–verb (used without object)

2.	to project; jut out; overhang: a cliff that beetles over the sea.

3.	to hang or tower over in a threatening or menacing manner: The prospect of bankruptcy beetled over him.

[Origin: 1325–75; ME; back formation from beetle-browed

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bee·tle¹ Audio Help (bēt'l) Pronunciation Key
n.

Any of numerous insects of the order Coleoptera, having biting mouthparts and forewings modified to form horny coverings that protect the underlying pair of membranous hind wings when at rest.
An insect resembling a member of the order Coleoptera.

intr.v. bee·tled, bee·tling, bee·tles
To make one's way or move like a beetle: "Chambermaids . . . beetled from bedroom to bedroom loaded with . . . champagne" (Vanity Fair).

[Middle English betil, from Old English bitela, from bītan, to bite; see bheid- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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bee·tle² Audio Help   (bēt'l) Pronunciation Key
adj.   Jutting; overhanging: beetle brows.

intr.v.   bee·tled, bee·tling, bee·tles
To jut; overhang: "The rocks often beetled over the road" (Washington Irving).

[From Middle English bitel-brouwed, grim-browed : bitel, sharp (probably from Old English *bitol, biting, from Old English bite, bite; see bit²) + brouwed (from brow, brow; see brow).]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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bee·tle³ Audio Help (bēt'l) Pronunciation Key
n.

A heavy mallet with a large wooden head.
A small wooden household mallet.
A machine with revolving wooden hammers that gives fabrics a lustrous sheen.

[Middle English betel, from Old English bȳtl; see bhau- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
beetle (n.)

"insect," O.E. bitela, from bitel "biting," related to bitan (see bite). As a nickname for the original Volkswagen car, 1946, translating Ger. Käfer.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
beetle (v.)

"project, overhang," originally in bitelbrouwed (1362), from bitel "sharp-edged, sharp;" probably from O.E. (see beetle (n.)) + brow, which in M.E. meant "eyebrow," not "forehead." It referred to shaggy eyebrows, perhaps because they suggested insect antennae. Meaning "to overhang dangerously" (of cliffs, etc.), 1602, probably from the eyebrow sense.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

beetle
adjective
1.	jutting or overhanging; "beetle brows"
noun
1.	insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings
2.	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 [syn: mallet]
verb
1.	be suspended over or hang over; "This huge rock beetles over the edge of the town" [syn: overhang]
2.	fly or go in a manner resembling a beetle; "He beetled up the staircase"; "They beetled off home"
3.	beat with a beetle

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
beetle [ˈbiːtl] noun

an insect with four wings

Arabic:	خُنْفُس، حُنْفُساء
Chinese (Simplified):	甲虫
Chinese (Traditional):	甲蟲
Czech:	brouk
Danish:	bille
Dutch:	kever
Estonian:	mardikas
Finnish:	kovakuoriainen
French:	coléoptère
German:	der Käfer
Greek:	σκαθάρι
Hungarian:	bogár
Icelandic:	bjalla
Indonesian:	kumbang
Italian:	coleottero

Japanese:	甲虫
Korean:	딱정벌레
Latvian:	vabole
Lithuanian:	vabalas
Norwegian:	bille
Polish:	chrząszcz
Portuguese (Brazil):	besouro
Portuguese (Portugal):	besouro
Romanian:	gândac; cărăbuş
Russian:	жук
Slovak:	chrobák
Slovenian:	hrošč
Spanish:	escarabajo, coleóptero
Swedish:	skalbagge
Turkish:	…böceği

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Beetle

Bee"tle\ (b[=e]"t'l), n. [OE. betel, AS. b[=i]tl, b?tl, mallet, hammer, fr. be['a]tan 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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Beetle

Bee"tle\ (b[=e]"t'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Beetled (-t'ld); 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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Beetle

Bee"tle\, n. [OE. bityl, bittle, AS. b[imac]tel, fr. b[imac]tan to bite. See Bite, v. t.] 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 (Zo["o]l.), one of many species of mites, of the family Oribatid[ae], parasitic on beetles.

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

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Beetle

Bee"tle\, v. i. [See Beetlebrowed.] 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.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Beetle

(Heb. hargol, meaning "leaper"). Mention of it is made only in Lev. 11:22, where it is obvious the word cannot mean properly the beetle. It denotes some winged creeper with at least four feet, "which has legs above its feet, to leap withal." The description plainly points to the locust (q.v.). This has been an article of food from the earliest times in the East to the present day. The word is rendered "cricket" in the Revised Version.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

beetle

beetle: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary

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