BEAVER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Beaver mean? 

• BEAVER (noun)
  The noun BEAVER has 7 senses:

1. the soft brown fur of the beaver

2. a native or resident of Oregon

3. a full beard

4. a man's hat with a tall crown; usually covered with silk or with beaver fur

5. a movable piece of armor on a medieval helmet used to protect the lower face

6. a hat made with the fur of a beaver (or similar material)

7. large semiaquatic rodent with webbed hind feet and a broad flat tail; construct complex dams and underwater lodges

  Familiarity information: BEAVER used as a noun is common.

• BEAVER (verb)
  The verb BEAVER has 1 sense:

1. work hard on something

  Familiarity information: BEAVER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEAVER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The soft brown fur of the beaver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

beaver; beaver fur

Hypernyms ("beaver" is a kind of...):

fur; pelt (the dressed hairy coat of a mammal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A native or resident of Oregon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Beaver; Oregonian

Hypernyms ("Beaver" is a kind of...):

American (a native or inhabitant of the United States)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A full beard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("beaver" is a kind of...):

beard; face fungus; whiskers (the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A man's hat with a tall crown; usually covered with silk or with beaver fur

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

beaver; dress hat; high hat; opera hat; silk hat; stovepipe; top hat; topper

Hypernyms ("beaver" is a kind of...):

chapeau; hat; lid (headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim)

man's clothing (clothing that is designed for men to wear)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A movable piece of armor on a medieval helmet used to protect the lower face

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("beaver" is a kind of...):

armor plate; armor plating; armour plate; plate armor; plate armour (specially hardened steel plate used to protect fortifications or vehicles from enemy fire)

Holonyms ("beaver" is a part of...):

helmet (a protective headgear made of hard material to resist blows)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A hat made with the fur of a beaver (or similar material)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

beaver; castor

Hypernyms ("beaver" is a kind of...):

fur hat (a hat made of fur)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Large semiaquatic rodent with webbed hind feet and a broad flat tail; construct complex dams and underwater lodges

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("beaver" is a kind of...):

gnawer; rodent (relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beaver"):

Castor fiber; Old World beaver (a European variety of beaver)

Castor canadensis; New World beaver (a variety of beaver found in almost all areas of North America except Florida)

Holonyms ("beaver" is a member of...):

Castor; genus Castor (type genus of the Castoridae: beavers)

Derivation:

beaver (work hard on something)

• BEAVER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they beaver    ... he / she / it beavers   
Past simple: beavered   
Past participle: beavered   
-ing form: beavering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Work hard on something

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

beaver; beaver away

Hypernyms (to "beaver" is one way to...):

work (exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

beaver (large semiaquatic rodent with webbed hind feet and a broad flat tail; construct complex dams and underwater lodges)

 Context examples 

Again, and this time with purpose, did Grey Beaver kick him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Fish, in open pools, were not too quick for him; nor were beaver, mending their dams, too wary.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"You are not a servant at the hall, of course. You are—" He stopped, ran his eye over my dress, which, as usual, was quite simple: a black merino cloak, a black beaver bonnet; neither of them half fine enough for a lady's-maid. He seemed puzzled to decide what I was; I helped him. I am the governess.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

When the canoe touched the shore, White Fang lay whimpering and motionless, waiting the will of Grey Beaver.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He knew it for a Hudson Bay Company gun of the young days in the Northwest, when such a gun was worth its height in beaver skins packed flat, And that was all—no hint as to the man who in an early day had reared the lodge and left the gun among the blankets.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The two younger of the trio (fine girls of sixteen and seventeen) had grey beaver hats, then in fashion, shaded with ostrich plumes, and from under the brim of this graceful head-dress fell a profusion of light tresses, elaborately curled; the elder lady was enveloped in a costly velvet shawl, trimmed with ermine, and she wore a false front of French curls.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Grey Beaver's wrath was terrible; likewise was White Fang's fright.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Grey Beaver picked up the paddle.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He sprang into the water and swam after it, deaf to the sharp cries of Grey Beaver to return.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Grey Beaver continued to beat, White Fang continued to snarl.

(White Fang, by Jack London)