beaver
beaver — noun
- beaversingular
- beaversplural
1. a large brown animal that lives partly in water, has strong front teeth and a wi
a large brown animal that lives partly in water, has strong front teeth and a wide paddle-shaped tail, and often builds dams and lodges in streams
A beaver dragged fresh branches into the stream before sunset.
beaver builds with branches in water
Park staff found beaver tracks beside the muddy river bank.
Joon watched a beaver slap the water with its tail.
common action: slap the water with its tail
The fallen trees showed where beavers had started a new dam.
plural: beavers + start a dam
- beaver dam
- beaver lodge
- beaver pond
- beaver tail
- wild beaver
Grammar Patterns
see a beaver
beaver builds a dam
beaver lodge
beaver tail
Usage Note
Usually countable. Common contexts mention rivers, ponds, dams, lodges, and trees that have been cut with the animal's teeth.
Common Mistakes
2. someone who keeps working busily and eagerly, especially on jobs that need patie
someone who keeps working busily and eagerly, especially on jobs that need patience or extra effort
Nadia is a busy beaver who labels every box before moving day.
informal phrase: busy beaver
The coach called João a real beaver after practice ended.
a real beaver = very hard worker
When deadlines pile up, Christopher becomes the office beaver for days.
My aunt is such a beaver that she scrubbed the whole porch before breakfast.
- busy beaver
- real beaver
- little beaver
- hard worker
the plain neutral phrase without the playful tone
- workaholic
stronger and often suggests an unhealthy amount of work
- go-getter
focuses more on ambition and initiative than on steady effort
- slacker
informal word for someone who avoids effort
Grammar Patterns
a beaver at work
a real beaver
busy beaver
Usage Note
Often used in friendly praise, especially in the phrase 'busy beaver'. It suggests steady, eager effort rather than talent or authority.
Common Mistakes
3. a crude slang term used for female genitals or for the pubic hair around them
a crude slang term used for female genitals or for the pubic hair around them
The stand-up comic used beaver, and several people walked out.
metalinguistic use of an offensive slang word
The subtitle replaced beaver with a line of asterisks.
His crude joke about a beaver made the room go silent.
The radio host cut the caller off after she said beaver.
said beaver = explicit offensive language
- crude joke about beaver
- say beaver on air
- use the word beaver
Grammar Patterns
say beaver
call it beaver
use the word beaver
Usage Note
This is a very rude slang term and is unsuitable in respectful, formal, or medical situations. It is more often mentioned in crude jokes or complaints about offensive language than used neutrally.
Common Mistakes
4. the thick soft fur from a beaver, especially when it is used for hats, coats, or
the thick soft fur from a beaver, especially when it is used for hats, coats, or other clothing
The museum displayed a beaver collar from the early fur trade.
beaver collar = clothing made from the fur
Traders once shipped beaver to Europe for expensive winter hats.
Her grandmother kept a warm beaver coat in a cedar chest.
The catalog described the trim as dark Canadian beaver.
material name used after an adjective
- beaver coat
- beaver collar
- Canadian beaver
- trimmed with beaver
Grammar Patterns
beaver coat
beaver collar
trimmed with beaver
Usage Note
This sense is a material noun. It often appears before clothing words such as coat, collar, trim, or hat rather than referring to the whole animal.
5. a tall formal hat once made with beaver fur, later also copied in silk or other
a tall formal hat once made with beaver fur, later also copied in silk or other similar material
The actor tipped his beaver before stepping into the carriage.
tip a beaver = tip a formal hat
A black beaver hung on the rack beside the stage door.
The costume shop rented me a beaver for the school play.
In the old photo, the banker wore a shiny beaver and gloves.
wear a beaver in historical dress
- black beaver
- silk beaver
- wear a beaver
- tip a beaver
Grammar Patterns
wear a beaver
tip a beaver
black beaver
Usage Note
This is an old-fashioned clothing sense. In modern contexts it usually appears when people discuss historical dress, theater costumes, or formal portraits.
6. the lower face guard of a medieval helmet, sometimes made to lift up and down
the lower face guard of a medieval helmet, sometimes made to lift up and down
The knight raised his beaver to speak before the battle.
raise the beaver on a helmet
Rust had frozen the beaver to the front of the helmet.
The curator explained how the beaver shielded the jaw and chin.
protects the lower face
A long crack ran across the beaver of the damaged helmet.
- raise the beaver
- helmet beaver
- iron beaver
- visor
a broader helmet face guard term, often covering the eyes as well
- face guard
plain descriptive wording rather than the technical historical term
Grammar Patterns
raise the beaver
lower the beaver
helmet beaver
Usage Note
This is a specialist historical term for armor. It usually appears in museum labels, medieval history writing, or descriptions of old weapons.
beaver — verb
- beaverpresent simple I / you / we / they
- beavers3rd person singular
- beavering-ing form
- beaveredpast simple
1. to keep working away in a busy and determined way, especially on a task that tak
to keep working away in a busy and determined way, especially on a task that takes time
Jude beavered away at the model bridge all weekend.
beaver away at + long task
The interns were beavering away in the archive long after dinner.
Layla kept beavering over the budget until midnight.
beaver over + task
The volunteers beavered away in the kitchen before sunrise.
- beaver away at a project
- beaver over the figures
- beaver in the kitchen
- toil
more formal and often emphasizes difficulty or tiredness
- slave away
more dramatic and often suggests resentment
- plug away
another informal verb for steady effort over time
- idle
to spend time without working
Grammar Patterns
beaver away at [task]
beaver over [task]
beaver on
Usage Note
Most often used with away, at, or over, and it usually suggests patient effort on something slow or detailed. It is more colloquial than simply saying 'work hard'.
Common Mistakes
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
Beaver is the normal word for the large water-loving rodent with a broad flat tail that cuts wood and builds dams. An otter also lives near rivers, but it is a hunter with a long narrow body and is usually pictured swimming after fish, not carrying branches. A muskrat is another water animal, yet it is much smaller and has a thin tail, so it does not suggest the same heavy dam-building image. Rodent is only the broad scientific class and is too general for everyday scenes. You would say 'A beaver blocked the stream with branches,' but 'An otter chased a fish under the bridge.'
Etymology
Beaver came into English from Old English beofor, through the Middle English form bever. It is related to old Germanic words for the same animal, and the family may go back to an even older root connected with the color brown.
First known use
12th century
12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a Noun (2)