beetle
/ˈbiːtəl/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈbiː.təl/
beetle noun: any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest. Also the alternative letter-case form of Beetle.
Noun (1)
beetle (plural beetles)
- Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest.
- Synonyms:
- bug
- A game of chance in which players attempt to complete a drawing of a beetle, different dice rolls allowing them to add the various body parts.
- Guessing competitions were tackled with much enthusiasm, followed by a beetle drive, and judging by the laughter, this was popular with all.1944, Queen's Nurses' Magazine, volumes 33-35, page 12
Verb (1)
beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)
- To move (away) quickly, to scurry away.
- He beetled off on his vacation.
- I beetled across to our table, but no Pauline, no Mr Cresswell, no Mr Rudyard.1982, A Woman of No Importance (TV programme)
Adjective
beetle (comparative more beetle, superlative most beetle)
- Protruding, jutting, overhanging.
- beetle brows
Verb (2)
beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)
- To loom over; to extend or jut (above).
- The heavy chimney beetled over the thatched roof.
- To the dreadful summit of the cliff / That beetles o'er his base into the sea.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
Noun (2)
beetle (plural beetles)
Verb (3)
beetle (third-person singular simple present beetles, present participle beetling, simple past and past participle beetled)
- To beat with a heavy mallet.
- To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine.
- to beetle cotton goods
Noun (3) capitalized: Beetle
Beetle (plural Beetles)
- A small car, the Volkswagen Beetle (original version made 1938–2003, similar models made 1997–2010 and from 2011 to 2019).
- Synonyms:
- Bug
Also used as
beetle is also the alternative letter-case form of Beetle.
beetle is also the obsolete spelling of betel.
beetle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
beetle in Hindi
- insect
- गुबरैला gubrailā, भृंग bhŕṅg
beetle in Tamil
- insect
- வண்டு vaṇṭu
beetle in Urdu
- insect
- بَھون٘را bha͠urā, گوبْرِیلا gobrīlā
beetle in Bengali
- insect
- গুবরে পোকা gubore pōka
More languagesFewer languages
- beetle in Telugu
- భ్రమరం bhramaraṁ
- beetle in Malayalam
- വണ്ട് vaṇṭŭ, ഭ്രമരം bhramaraṁ
- beetle in Sanskrit
- भ्रमर bhramara
- beetle in Pashto
- ګونګټ gungᶕṭ
- beetle in Arabic
- خُنْفُسَاء ḵunfusāʔ
- beetle in Malay
- kumbang
- beetle in Indonesian
- kumbang
- beetle in Thai
- ด้วง dûuang, แมลง má-lɛɛng, แมง mɛɛng
- beetle in Vietnamese
- bọ cánh cứng
- beetle in Myanmar
- ပိုးတောင်မာ pui:taungma
- Dzongkha
- ཨ་ཝ་གླང a wa glang
Examples of beetle in a sentence
- “[…] But he seems to have beetled off somewhere as usual. […]”1983, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night, Mountaineers Books, →ISBN, page 144:
- I’ll squash you like the nasty little bug you are.” ¶ Thus chastened, the little man beetled away.2005, James Doss, The Witch's Tongue, →ISBN, page 178:
Synonyms of beetle
Forms of beetle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | beetles |
| plural | Beetles |
| alternative uncommon | beetle |
| alternative form (obsolete) | bittle |
| alternative form (obsolete) | betel |
| alternative form (obsolete) | bittil |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | beetles |
| present participle | beetling |
| past participle | beetled |
| past | beetled |
Origin of beetle
From Middle English bitle, bityl, bytylle, from Old English bitula, bitela, bītel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *bitilō, *bītil, from Proto-Germanic *bitilô, *bītilaz (“that which tends to bite, biter, beetle”), equivalent to bite + -le. Cognate with Old High German bicco (“beetle”), Danish bille (“beetle”), Icelandic bitil, bitul (“a bite, bit”), Faroese bitil (“small piece, bittock”).
From Middle English bitel-brouwed (“beetle-browed”). Possibly after beetle, from the fact that some beetles have bushy antennae.
From Middle English betel, from Old English bȳtel, bīetel (“hammer”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautil (“hammer, mallet”), equivalent to beat + -le. Cognate with Low German Bötel (“mallet”).
Words formed from beetle
- beetle leaf
- beetle nut
- Beetlemania
- Alexander beetle
- ambrosia beetle
- ant beetle
- ant nest beetle
- Asian lady beetle
- Asiatic beetle
- asparagus beetle
- Atlas beetle
- bacon beetle
- banded cucumber beetle
- bark beetle
- bean beetle
- Beatles
- bee beetle
- beetle bank
- beetlebrain
- beetle brow
- beetle-browed
- beetle bug
- beetle-crusher
- beetle drive
- beetle grass
- beetlehead
- beetle-headed
- beetlelike
- beetle mite
- beetler
- beetleskin
- beetle-squasher
- beetle-sticker
- beetleweed
- beetly
- Bess beetle
- Betsy beetle
- bill-beetle
- biscuit beetle
- black beetle
- black carpet beetle
- blind as a beetle
- blister beetle
- bloody-nosed beetle
- blue ground beetle
- bombardier beetle
- bread beetle
- burying beetle
- cactus longhorn beetle
- cadelle beetle
- cane beetle
- capricorn beetle
- cardinal beetle
- Carolina metallic tiger beetle
- Carolina tiger beetle
- carpet beetle
- carrion beetle
- carrot beetle
- cedar beetle
- cereal leaf beetle
Phrases with beetle
- ox beetle
- elm beetle
- fur beetle
- May beetle
- oil beetle
- sun beetle
- beetle bugs
- beetle nuts
- dung beetle
- fire beetle
- flea beetle
- gold beetle
143 more phrasesFewer phrases
- hide beetle
- huhu beetle
- June beetle
- lady beetle
- leaf beetle
- musk beetle
- pill beetle
- rain beetle
- rose beetle
- rove beetle
- seed beetle
- shit beetle
- skin beetle
- snap beetle
- stag beetle
- wasp beetle
- beetle banks
- beetle brows
- beetle mites
- cigar beetle
- click beetle
- clown beetle
- flour beetle
- grain beetle
- jewel beetle
- marsh beetle
- mimic beetle
- rhino beetle
- snout beetle
- stink beetle
- tiger beetle
- titan beetle
- water beetle
- beetle drives
- beetle leaves
- diving beetle
- fiddle beetle
- flower beetle
- fungus beetle
- golden beetle
- ground beetle
- hister beetle
- khapra beetle
- larder beetle
- lizard beetle
- Moccas beetle
- museum beetle
- picnic beetle
- potato beetle
- riffle beetle
- sacred beetle
- scarab beetle
- sexton beetle
- shield beetle
- spider beetle
- spring beetle
- squash beetle
- diamond beetle
- Goliath beetle
- lantern beetle
- pintail beetle
- pumpkin beetle
- railway beetle
- soldier beetle
- tobacco beetle
- Colorado beetle
- cucumber beetle
- darkling beetle
- Darwin's beetle
- elephant beetle
- elm bark beetle
- Hercules beetle
- ironclad beetle
- Japanese beetle
- kangaroo beetle
- ladybird beetle
- longhorn beetle
- mealworm beetle
- Oriental beetle
- pie-dish beetle
- pinacate beetle
- snapping beetle
- tapestry beetle
- tortoise beetle
- wardrobe beetle
- Christmas beetle
- cigarette beetle
- drugstore beetle
- furniture beetle
- goldsmith beetle
- lightning beetle
- monoceros beetle
- raspberry beetle
- red flour beetle
- scavenger beetle
- sunflower beetle
- trilobite beetle
- wasp nest beetle
- whirligig beetle
- deathwatch beetle
- green June beetle
- net-winged beetle
- peach bark beetle
- powderpost beetle
- rhinoceros beetle
- storehouse beetle
- toe-winged beetle
- watermelon beetle
- death-watch beetle
- false jewel beetle
- frog-legged beetle
- green fruit beetle
- hairy click beetle
- long-horned beetle
- powder-post beetle
- Say blister beetle
- thunderbolt beetle
- false potato beetle
- Jeffrey pine beetle
- Mexican bean beetle
- scarlet lily beetle
- Fuller's rose beetle
- mountain pine beetle
- confused flour beetle
- crab-like rove beetle
- harlequin lady beetle
- orange blister beetle
- plague soldier beetle
- ten-lined June beetle
- Colorado potato beetle
- deadnettle leaf beetle
- golden tortoise beetle
- lined flat bark beetle
- long-toed water beetle
- pleasing fungus beetle
- striped blister beetle
- tumbling flower beetle
- water scavenger beetle
- spotted cucumber beetle
- striped cucumber beetle
- eight-spotted flea beetle
- femme fatale lightning beetle
- yellow-crescent blister beetle
Words that rhyme with beetle
Questions about beetle
- What does beetle mean?
- Beetle means any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest.
- What is beetle in Hindi?
- Beetle in Hindi is गुबरैला (gubrailā), भृंग (bhŕṅg). See Beetle meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use beetle in a sentence?
- “[…] But he seems to have beetled off somewhere as usual. […]”
- What part of speech is beetle?
- Beetle can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce beetle?
- Beetle is pronounced /ˈbiːtəl/.
- What is the plural of beetle?
- The plural of beetle is beetles.
Words near beetle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: beetle (page history and authors); Beetle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-beetle.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Beetle.wav.
Cite this entry: “beetle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beetle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.