Word.ws English Dictionary

betty

/ˈbɛti/

betty noun: a short bar used by thieves to wrench doors open; a jimmy.

Noun (1)

betty (plural betties)

  1. (slang) A short bar used by thieves to wrench doors open; a jimmy.
    • No modern Lycæum vvill ever equal thy Glory, […] deſcribing the povverful Betty, or the artful Picklock, […]1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “The Preface”, in Lewis Baboon Turned Honest, and John Bull Politician. Being the Fourth Part of Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], London: […] John...
  2. (slang) A picklock, skeleton key; a tool for opening locks.
    • After a quick meal at a tea shop, we found ourselves in the hallway at the Midland Hotel, where he removed a skeleton key, or “betty” as he called it, from his pocket and inserted it in the keyhole. […] Once they were out of sight, I fumbled about with the betty for a few moments before the lock...1958, Will Thomas, To Kingdom Come, page 161
  3. (archaic, derogatory) A man who performs tasks that traditionally belong to a woman; (originally) an effeminate or gay man.
    Synonyms:
    cot-betty, cot-quean, henhussy, molly
  4. (US, archaic) A pear-shaped bottle covered with straw, in which olive oil is sometimes brought from Italy; a Florence flask.
    • On olive oil in casks, twenty cents per gallon; olive salad oil in bottles or betties, thirty per centum ad valorem1841, Acts and Resolutions Passed at the First Session of the Twenty-Seventh Congress of the United States
  5. A baked dessert made with alternating layers of sweetened fruit and buttered bread crumbs.
    • A pie-size betty is traditional, but if you like, assemble the recipe in individual ovenproof ramekins.2021 November, “Apple-Almond Brave Betty”, in Midwest Living, archived from the original on 01 Dec 2021
  6. (slang, slightly pejorative) An attractive woman; a babe.
    • Isn't my house classic? The columns date all the way back to 1972. Wasn't my Mom a betty? She died when I was just a baby. A fluke accident during a routine liposuction. I don't remember her, but I like to pretend she still watches over me.1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Cher (Alicia Silverstone)
    Synonyms:
    beautiful woman

Verb

betty (third-person singular simple present betties, present participle bettying, simple past and past participle bettied)

  1. To pick a lock, to open with a betty.
    • “Well then,” he said. “Let’s say you can betty the lock, hang on a rope, and break the drum, and then lock up again with nobody the wiser. How do I get on in the first place, past the Scots jack, with his sharp cool?”1976, Michael Crichton, The Great Train Robbery, page 185
    • The forty quid! Gone! ’Ow could she ’ave gotten in there? The peter ain’t broke, no sign of it bein’ bettied, and I the only one w’ the key.2013, Zack Wentz, “Simplicity itself”, in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, volume 10, page 161
  2. (archaic) To be overly attentive to someone or something.
    • “I’m perfectly well, thank you, Miss Hester,” she said, coldly. “I detest being bettied.”1877 August 16, Julia Dartman, “Aunty Di”, in The Youth’s Companion, page 1
    • If anything on earth is reprehensible in a man and disgusting to a woman, it is to have said man hen-hussying and bettying about the kitchen1897, W.H. Rudd, “Johnny cakes”, in The Poultry Monthly, volume XIX, page 371

Proper noun capitalized: Betty

Betty

  1. A diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth.
    • People in the last century weren't afraid of homely names; now we are all so smart and fine: no more "Lady Bettys" now.1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, chapter 10, in Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published...
    • But Mrs. Betty Carver respects tradition, and this, I'm afraid, is ours. - - - She smells like expensive soap and her teeth are shiny-white. She does not in any way look like her name. It's not her fault that she was born in a time when people believed in names like Wanda, Dottie and Betty. She's...1991, Peter Hedges, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Simon & Schuster, published 1999, →ISBN, page 60

Noun (2) capitalized: Betty

Betty (plural Betties)

  1. (derogatory, slang) A girl who hangs out with skateboarders or surfers.

betty meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Telugu

betty in Hindi

बेट्टी

betty in Marathi

बेट्टी

betty in Bengali

বেটি, বেট্টি

betty in Telugu

బెట్టీ, బెట్టీకి
More languagesFewer languages
betty in Malayalam
ബെറ്റി, ബെട്ടി, ബെറ്റ്ടി
betty in Kannada
ಬೆಟ್ಟಿ, ಬೆಟ್ಟೀ
betty in Punjabi
ਬੈਟੀ
betty in Gujarati
બેટ્ટી, બેટી
betty in Odia
ବେଟି, ବେଟ୍ଟୀ
betty in Nepali
बेट्टी

Examples of betty in a sentence

  • Betty ran all out in the sprint race; yet, it was close, but no cigar.
  • Betty had divided up her cigarettes to last all month, and her ration for today was only three.
  • Betty came forth with verification of his claims.

All 19 example sentences with betty

Synonyms of betty

All synonyms of betty

Forms of betty

Noun
pluralbetties
alternative formbettee
alternative formBetty
pluralBetties
Verb
third-person singular presentbetties
present participlebettying
past participlebettied
pastbettied

Plural of betty: betties

Origin of betty

From Betty (nickname for “Elizabeth”). In thieves’ cant a tool for wrenching locked doors is also called a Bess (from “Elizabeth”) or a Jenny. The “attractive woman” sense may relate to the character Betty Rubble in the cartoon The Flintstones.

Words formed from betty

Phrases with betty

Words that rhyme with betty

8 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about betty

What does betty mean?
Betty means a short bar used by thieves to wrench doors open; a jimmy.
What is betty in Hindi?
Betty in Hindi is बेट्टी. See Betty meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is betty?
Betty can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce betty?
Betty is pronounced /ˈbɛti/.
What is the plural of betty?
The plural of betty is betties.

Words near betty in the dictionary

  1. Betts
  2. Bettses
  3. Bettws
  4. Bettws Cedewain
  5. Bettwys-y-Crwyn
  6. betty
  7. Betty Boop
  8. Betty Boop-ish
  9. Betty Boopish
  10. betty lamp
  11. betty lamps

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: betty (page history and authors); Betty (page history and authors); betty (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); betty (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-au-betty.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Betty.wav.

Cite this entry: “betty.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/betty. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.