beaver
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beaver¹
- /ˈbiːvə/ UK
- /ˈbivɚ/ US
Sounds like Belvoir, bever, bevor · Rhymes with -iːvə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English bever, from Old English befer, from Proto-West Germanic *bebru, from Proto-Germanic *bebruz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰébʰrus (“beaver”).
Cognate with West Frisian bever, Dutch bever, French bièvre, German Biber, dialectal Swedish bjur. Non-Germanic cognates include Welsh befer, Latin fiber, Lithuanian bẽbras, Russian бобр (bobr), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬭𐬀 (bauura), and Sanskrit बभ्रु (bábhru, “mongoose; ichneumon”).
Slang use to refer to a woman evolved from use to refer to pubic hair, which evolved from use to refer to beards, which evolved from use to refer to the furry animal or its fur.
noun beavers · beaver · Beaver
- A semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet, native to the Northern Hemisphere. Then, for the safeguard of his personage, He did appoint a warlike equipage Of foreign beasts, not in the forest bred, But part by land and part by water fed; For tyranny is with strange aid supported. Then unto him all monstrous beasts resorted Bred of two kinds, as Griffons, Minotaurs, Crocodiles,
-
The fur of the beaver.
Similar: castorette
- A hat, of various shapes, made from a felted beaver fur (or later of silk), fashionable in Europe between 1550 and 1850. a broad beaver slouched over his eyes
- Beaver pelts as an article of exchange or as a standard of value.
-
Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woollen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.
Similar: castor
-
A brown colour, like that of a beaver.
Similar: beaver brown, castor
- A move in response to being doubled, in which one immediately doubles the stakes again, keeping the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.
- Alternative letter-case form of Beaver (“member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement”).
- A beard or a bearded person. The beards were false ones. I could see the elastic going over their ears. In other words, I had fallen among a band of criminals who were not wilful beavers, but had merely assumed the fungus for purposes of disguise.
- A game, in which points are scored by spotting beards.
- The pubic hair near a vulva or a vulva itself; (attributively) denoting films or literature featuring nude women. Finally it came on. It was a beauty, a beaver flick made in the late 1970s. It was called Big Black Leather Splits.
- A woman, especially one who is sexually attractive. “10-4, Beaver [CB talk for a female], we’re all going down to Plains tomorrow after Jimmy Carter wins.”
verb beavers · beavering · beavered
- To form a felt-like texture, similar to the way beaver fur is used for felt-making. Without these attentions the woad will not beaver well, a term descriptive of the fineness of the capillary filaments into which it draws out when broken between the finger and thumb.
- To work hard. When A. G. Dickens published his English Reformation in 1964 the archival beavering of a generation of graduate students was given its imprimatur in the claim to understand how the English people felt about religious change—largely, according to Dickens, positively.
- To cut a continuous ring around a tree that one is felling.
- After being doubled, to immediately double the stakes again, a move that keeps the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.
- To spot a beard in a game of beaver. Beavering of foreign visitors does not count. This is a rule, but it is never carried out.
beaver²
- /ˈbiːvə/ UK
- /ˈbivɚ/ US
Sounds like Belvoir, bever, bevor · Rhymes with -iːvə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
See bevor.
noun beavers
- Alternative spelling of bevor (“part of a helmet”). Lord Stafford’s father, Duke of Buckingham, Is either slain or wounded dangerously; I cleft his beaver with a downright blow:
beaver³
- /ˈbiːvə/ UK
- /ˈbivɚ/ US
Sounds like Belvoir, bever, bevor · Rhymes with -iːvə(ɹ)
noun
- Butter. Butter – Beaver.
Beaver⁴
Where it comes from
* As an English surname, capitalization of beaver. This sense is also translated from several Native American names such as Cheyenne homa'e and Creek Echaswvlke of the same meaning. Doublet of Bieber and Bever.
* Also as an English surname, from the placename Belvoir in Leicestershire.
proper noun Beavers · Beever
- A surname.
- A census-designated place in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska.
- A town in Carroll County, Arkansas.
- A minor city in Amaqua Township, Boone County, Iowa.
- A township and census-designated place therein, in Barton County, Kansas.
- An unincorporated community in Floyd County, Kentucky.
- A township and unincorporated community therein, in Bay County, Michigan.
- An unincorporated community in Baldwin Township, Delta County, Michigan.
- An unincorporated community in Whitewater Township, Winona County, Minnesota.
- A village in Pike County, Ohio.
- A town, the county seat of Beaver County, Oklahoma.
- An unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon.
- A borough, the county seat of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
- A city, the county seat of Beaver County, Utah.
- An unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington.
- A census-designated place in Raleigh County, West Virginia.
- A town in Clark County, Wisconsin.
- A town and unincorporated community therein, in Marinette County, Wisconsin.
- A town in Polk County, Wisconsin.
- A number of other townships in the United States, listed under Beaver Township.
noun Beavers · beaver
- A native or resident of the American state of Oregon.
- A member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement, composed of groups for children, traditionally boys, of approximately five to seven years of age.
Beaver⁵
Where it comes from
Calque of Canadian French Castor. From French castor (“beaver”).
proper noun
- The Dane-zaa people, indigenous to northern Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.
Beaver⁶
noun Beavers
- Alternative letter-case form of beaver (“beard-spotting game”).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: castor, opera hat, top hat, topper, stovepipe, beaver away, dress hat, high hat, silk hat, cat, kitty, kitten, pussycat, puss, drilling, boundary
Translations
Every language
noun fur
| Deutsch | Biberfell |
|---|
noun semiaquatic rodent
| Español | castor |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 비버 bibeo |
| 日本語 | ビーバー bībā, 海狸 |
| 中文 | 海狸 hǎilí, 河狸 hélí |
| हिन्दी | ऊदबिलाव ūdbilāv, ऊद ūd |
| Kiswahili | biva |
| Português | castor |
| Français | castor, bièvre |
| Deutsch | Biber |
| Italiano | castoro |
| Ελληνικά | κάστορας kástoras |
| Română | castor, biber |
| Русский | бобр bobr, бобёр bobjór |
| Tiếng Việt | hải ly |
| العربية | قُنْدُس qundus, سَمُّور sammūr |
| עברית | בונה boneh |
Talk about this word "beaver." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/beaver. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. beaver. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/beaver "beaver." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/beaver.Cite this
@misc{beaver_2026,
title = {beaver},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/beaver},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
