different between beetle vs battledore

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bi?t?l/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): [?bi???]
• Rhymes: -i?t?l
• Homophone: Beatle

Etymology 1

From Middle English bitle, bityl, bytylle, from Old English bitula, bitela, b?tel (“beetle”), from Proto-Germanic *bitulaz, *b?tilaz (“that which tends to bite, biter, beetle”), equivalent to bite +? -le. Cognate with Danish bille (“beetle”), Icelandic bitil, bitul (“a bite, bit”), Faroese bitil (“small piece, bittock”).

Alternative forms

• bittle, betel, bittil (all obsolete)

Noun

beetle (plural beetles)

1. 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.
2. (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.
   • 1944, Queen's Nurses' Magazine (volumes 33-35, page 12)

     Guessing competitions were tackled with much enthusiasm, followed by a beetle drive, and judging by the laughter, this was popular with all.

3. Alternative letter-case form of Beetle (“car”)
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:beetle.

Synonyms

• (insect): bug (U.S. colloquial)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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

1. To move (away) quickly, to scurry away.

   He beetled off on his vacation.

   • 1982, A Woman of No Importance (TV programme)

     I beetled across to our table, but no Pauline, no Mr Cresswell, no Mr Rudyard.

See also

• bug
• chafer
• firefly
• ladybird
• scarab

Etymology 2

From Middle English bitel-brouwed (“beetle-browed”). Possibly after beetle, from the fact that some beetles have bushy antennae.

Adjective

beetle (comparative more beetle, superlative most beetle)

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

Verb

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

1. To loom over; to extend or jut.

   The heavy chimney beetled over the thatched roof.

   • 1822, William Wordsworth, In a Carriage, upon the Banks of the Rhin

     Each beetling rampart, and each tower sublime.

Etymology 3

From Middle English betel, from Old English b?etel, akin to b?atan (“to beat”).

Noun

beetle (plural beetles)

1. A type of mallet with a large wooden head, 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; a beetling machine.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

Translations

Verb

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

1. To beat with a heavy mallet.
2. To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine.

   to beetle cotton goods

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Alternative forms

• battledoor

Noun

battledore (plural battledores)

1. A game played with a shuttlecock and rackets (properly battledore and shuttlecock); a forerunner of badminton.
2. The racket used in this game.
3. (obsolete) A child's hornbook for learning the alphabet.
   • 1802, William Hutton, The History of the Roman Wall, preface

     You will also pardon the errors of the Work, for you know I was not bred to letters; but, that the battledore, at an age not exceeding six, was the last book I used at school.

4. (historical) A bat or beetle used in washing clothes.
   • 1563, John Foxe, The Book of Martyrs, ch. 21

     There is a large basin near the fountain, where numbers of women may be seen every day, kneeling at the edge of the water, and beating the clothes with heavy pieces of wood in the shape of battledores.

Derived terms

• know B from a battledore, know a B from a battledore

Translations

Anagrams

• tetralobed