Beetle

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -iːtÉ™l
• Homophones: Beatle

From Middle English bitle, bityl, bytylle, from Old English bitula, bitela, bītel ("beetle"), from Proto-Germanic *bitulaz, *bītilaz ("that which tends to bite, biter, beetle"), equivalent to bite + -le. Cognate with Danish bille ("beetle"), Icelandic bitil, bitul ("a bite, bit").

Alternative forms

• bittle, betel, bittil all obsolete

Full definition of beetle

Noun

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.

Synonyms

• (insect) bug U.S. colloquial

Derived terms

Verb

1. To move away quickly, to scurry away.He beetled off on his vacation.
• 1983, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night, “... But he seems to have beetled off somewhere as usual. ...”
• 2003, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Chapter The Department of Mysteries, In the falling darkness Harry saw small collections of lights as they passed over more villages, then a winding road on which a single car was beetling its way home through the hills. …
• 2005, James Doss, The Witch's Tongue, Her eyes still closed, his aunt smiled cruelly. “I know what you are dying to say, Bertie. Go ahead—take the cheap shot. I’ll squash you like the nasty little bug you are.” ¶ Thus chastened, the little man beetled away.

From Middle English bitel-brouwed ("beetle-browed"). Possibly after beetle#Etymology 1, from the fact that some beetles have bushy antennae.

Adjective

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

Verb

1. To loom over; to extend or jut.The heavy chimney beetled over the thatched roof.
• ShakespeareTo the dreadful summit of the cliff
  That beetles o'er his base into the sea.
• WordsworthEach beetling rampart, and each tower sublime.
• 1858, January-March, Dean of Pimlico, A Story for the New Year, I was indeed gently affected, and shared his fears, remembering well the bulging walls of the old house, and the toppling mass of heavy chimney work which beetled over the roof, beneath which these poor doves had made their nest.
• 1941, Chapman Miske, The Thing in the Moonlight, Impelled by some obscure quest, I ascended a rift or cleft in this beetling precipice, noting as I did so the black mouths of many fearsome burrows extending from both walls into the depths of the stony plateau.

Middle English betel, from Old English bīetel, akin to bēatan ("to beat")

Noun

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.

Verb

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