Definition of "beetle"

beetle¹

/ˈbiːtəl/

noun
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.
  Quotations
  Guessing competitions were tackled with much enthusiasm, followed by a beetle drive, and judging by the laughter, this was popular with all.
  1944, Queen's Nurses' Magazine, volumes 33-35, page 12
3. Alternative letter-case form of Beetle (“car”)
verb
third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled
1. To move (away) quickly, to scurry away.
  Quotations
  I beetled across to our table, but no Pauline, no Mr Cresswell, no Mr Rudyard.
  1982, A Woman of No Importance (TV programme)
  “ […] But he seems to have beetled off somewhere as usual. […] ”
  1983, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night‎, Mountaineers Books, page 144
  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. …
  2003, J. K. Rowling, “The Department of Mysteries”, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, page 766
  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.
  2005, James Doss, The Witch's Tongue, page 178

beetle²

/ˈbiːtəl/

adjective
comparative more beetle, superlative most beetle
1. Protruding, jutting, overhanging.
verb
third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled
1. To loom over; to extend or jut.
  Quotations
  To the dreadful summit of the cliff / That beetles o'er his base into the sea.
  c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene iv]
  Each beetling rampart, and each tower sublime.
  1822, William Wordsworth, In a Carriage, upon the Banks of the Rhin
  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.
  1858 January-March, Dean of Pimlico, “A Story for the New Year”, in Dublin University Magazine reprinted in Littell's Living Age‎, volume 56 (volume 20 of the second series), Littell, Son & Company, page 63
  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.
  1941, Chapman Miske, The Thing in the Moonlight

beetle³

/ˈbiːtəl/

noun
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.
verb
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.

Definition of "beetle"

beetle1

noun

Quotations

verb

Quotations

beetle2

adjective

verb

Quotations

beetle3

noun

verb

beetle¹

beetle²

beetle³