different between reefer vs beefer

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??i?f?/
• Rhymes: -i?f?(r)

Etymology 1

From reef +? -er.

Noun

reefer (plural reefers)

1. (nautical) Someone who reefs sails, especially a midshipman.
   • 1922, Katherine Mansfield, ‘Prelude’, Oxford 2002 (Selected Stories), p. 85:

     Her reefer cap was all on one side and on her cheek there was the print of an anchor button she had pressed on while sleeping.

   • 1905, John Masefield, Sea Life in Nelson's Times, p. 27:

     The mess table, at which the reefers and mates made merry, was fixed in the middle of the berth.

2. A reefer jacket; a close-fitting jacket or short coat of thick cloth.

Derived terms

• reefer jacket

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of refrigerator.

Noun

reefer (plural reefers)

1. (colloquial, chiefly US) A refrigerated, insulated trailer, ship or shipping container.
2. (rail transport, US) a refrigerator car (type of boxcar).

Translations

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain. Perhaps from regional Spanish grifa (“cannabis”) (Mexico), grifo (“someone who smokes cannabis”) (Central America).

Noun

reefer (countable and uncountable, plural reefers) (slang)

1. (countable) A marijuana cigarette.
2. (uncountable) Marijuana.

Synonyms

• (marijuana cigarette): See also Thesaurus:marijuana cigarette, Appendix:Cannabis slang

Translations

Anagrams

• Ferree

English

Etymology

beef +? -er

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -i?f?(?)

Noun

beefer (plural beefers)

1. (slang) A police informer.
2. A cow used for beef and not milk.
   • 1916, Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, Journal (volume 30-32, page 89)

     We usually reckon if a cow does not respond to good food at the pail, that she is "putting it on her back"; that is, she fattens, and is thus more of a beefer than a milker, and should not be retained for milking purpose.

Synonyms

• (police informer): See Thesaurus:informant

References

• Wright, Joseph (1898) The English Dialect Dictionary?^[1], volume 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 221

Anagrams

• befree