Meaning of beetle by Wiktionary Dictionary
- Rhymes: -iːtəl
- Homophone: Beatle
- 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 .
- A type of mallet with a large wooden head .
- ( Should we delete( + ) this sense? ) Nickname of two models of car made by Volkswagen .
- To move away quickly, to scurry away .
- 1983, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night, Mountaineers Books, ISBN 978-0-380-01207-7, page 144:
- 2003, J. K. Rowling, “The Department of Mysteries”, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, ISBN 9780439358064, page 766:
- 2005, James Doss, The Witch's Tongue, ISBN 9780312991081, page 178:
- To loom over .
- 1858, January-March, Dean of Pimlico, “A Story for the New Year”, Dublin University Magazine reprinted in Littell's Living Age, volume 56 ( volume 20 of the second series ), Littell, Son & Company, page 63:
- 1941, Chapman Miske, The Thing in the Moonlight:
- Beetle ( bēt'l ), n. [OE. betel, AS. bītl, btl, 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.
- Beetle ( bēt'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”.
- Beetle, n. [OE. bityl, bittle, AS. bītel, fr. bītan 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 ( Zool. ), one of many species of mites, of the family Oribatidæ, parasitic on beetles. -- Black beetle, the common large black cockroach ( Blatta orientalis ).
- Beetle, 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.
Late Middle English bityl < Old English bitela “biting” .
beetle ( plural: beetles )
Explanation of beetle by Wordnet Dictionary
Definition of beetle by GCIDE Dictionary