beavers

Noun

beaver (countable and uncountable, plural beavers or (senses 1 and 4) beaver)

1. (countable) 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...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...
2. The fur of the beaver.

   Synonyms:

   castorette

3. (countable) 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

   Synonyms:

   castor, castoreum

4. (Canada, US) Beaver pelts as an article of exchange or as a standard of value.
5. Beaver cloth, a heavy felted woollen cloth, used chiefly for making overcoats.

   Synonyms:

   castor

6. A brown colour, like that of a beaver.

   Synonyms:

   beaver brown, castor

See all 40 meanings of beaver