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.
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, Dragons, Beavers, and Centaurs: With those himself he strengthened mightily, That fear he need no force of enemy.1591, Edmund Spenser, “Prosopopoia; or, Mother Hubberd’s Tale”, in Edmund Spenser, edited by Charles Cowden Clarke, The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo, published 1868, page 112, lines 1117–1126:
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The fur of the beaver.
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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 eyes1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:
The woman's hair and woman's beaver had both been jerked off, exposing the cropped head of a man...1896, Owen Rhoscomyl, For the White Rose of Arno:
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Canada, US Beaver pelts as an article of exchange or as a standard of value.
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Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woollen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.
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A brown colour, like that of a beaver.
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Backgammon, Games 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.
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Alternative letter-case form of Beaver (“member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement”).
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.1936, P. G. Wodehouse, Laughing Gas:
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Historical, Slang A game, in which points are scored by spotting beards.
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Canada, US, Slang 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.1969, Harlan Ellison, “A Boy and His Dog”, in The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World, New York: Open Road Media, published 2014, →ISBN:
Between you and me, uh, she might have been fifteen, but when you get that little red beaver right up there in front of you, I don’t think it's crazy at all and I don’t think you do either.1975, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, directed by Miloš Forman, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (motion picture), spoken by Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson):
3 more examples
Let’s get some of that Saturday night beaver.1997, Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights (motion picture), spoken by Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly):
The store sold beaver books, fuck-suck books, homo books, novels, films, slides, playing cards, dildoes, cock rings, S&M gear, and French ticklers.2004, James Ellroy, Destination: Morgue! L.A. Tales, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, pages 127–128:
[…] once she wore none at all, swears to this day that he saw her beaver that fateful Friday night.2010, Dennis McFadden, Hart’s Grove: Stories:
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US, Offensive, Slang 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.”1977 January 13, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, “Jimmy Carter: New South Burn”, in Rolling Stone, [San Francisco or New York], retrieved 01 Dec 2022:
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.
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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.1799, Arthur Young, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Lincoln, London, page 155:
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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.2017, Felicity Heal, “Changing Interpretations of the British Reformations”, in Ulinka Rublack, editor, The Oxford Handbook of the Protestant Reformations, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 234:
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Slang To cut a continuous ring around a tree that one is felling.
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Backgammon, Games After being doubled, to immediately double the stakes again, a move that keeps the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.
Beavering of foreign visitors does not count. This is a rule, but it is never carried out.1922 October 13, Roanoke World-News, Roanoke, Virginia, retrieved 02 Dec 2022, page 6:
Etymology * 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.
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A native or resident of the American state of Oregon.
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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.
beaver
noun
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Butter.
Butter – Beaver.[1754, The Scoundrel’s Dictionary, London, page 15: