Idioms

beater

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beater

1. noun A car that is in poor condition, typically a very old one. You won't be able to drive that old beater forever, you know. A: "Dude, you're lucky that beater is still running." B: "I know, my mechanic tells me it would cost a fortune to fix up." Geez, you could hear that beater rumbling down the road from a mile away!
2. noun By extension, something that one uses because it is already in poor condition, so as to not damage or risk something newer or in better condition. I'm so afraid that my nice bike will get stolen that most of the time I just end up riding my beater. Hockey sticks are expensive, man! That's why I use this beater in practice. Mom, why do you insist on using that beater when I got you a brand-new one for Mother's Day?
3. adjective Describing something that one uses because it is already in poor condition, so as to not damage or risk something newer or in better condition. I'm so afraid that my nice bike will get stolen that most of the time I just end up riding my beater bike. My mom makes me use my beater phone because I've already cracked the screen on it multiple times. My parents were OK with me taking this old beater TV of theirs to college because they don't care if anything happens to it.

boy-beater

A tank top typically worn under other clothes. Also known as a "wife-beater." You can't go out in just a boy-beater—put something else on. One of our neighbors sits out on his front porch all day during the summer wearing nothing but a dirty boy-beater and a pair of boxer briefs. A: "Just talk to the guy!" B: "Come on, you know my type isn't 'random dude in a boy-beater that shows off all of his arm tats.' Sorry."

buzzer beater

sports A successful shot taken immediately before a buzzer sounds to signal the end of a period, quarter, game, etc. Thompson won the game with an incredible buzzer beater from the three-point line. We were so close to winning, until the other team threw up a buzzer beater and beat us by one point. Mason has always been clutch in big games, so I see him landing a buzzer beater in game seven.
See also: beater, buzzer

egg-beater

slang
1. A helicopter. A: "Do you hear that egg-beater?" B: "Yes, it must be from the local news station." It was pretty cool getting to see New York City from the inside of a egg-beater high in the sky. The cops will be sending egg-beaters to track us down, so we'll need to stay hidden in the trees.
2. A small motor on an outboard. Why isn't the boat moving? Is there something wrong with the egg-beater? Egg-beaters can become incredibly dangerous if someone falls overboard. If my dad can't get the egg-beater going, I'm afraid we won't be leaving the dock any time soon.

wife-beater

1. Literally, a person who physically assaults their wife. The world was shocked to learn that the hugely popular musician was a savage wife-beater.
2. slang By extension, a tank top typically worn under other clothes. Also known as a "boy-beater." You can't go out in just a wife-beater—put something else on over it. One of our neighbors sits out on his front porch all day during the summer wearing nothing but a dirty wife-beater and a pair of boxer briefs.

world-beater

Someone or something that is far superior to any other person or thing in a given category or area. The documentary traces the athlete's journey from an impoverished amateur to a superstar world-beater. While it is certainly an impressive machine, I think the very high cost and relative lack of worthwhile apps may prevent the public from seeing it as a real world-beater.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

beater

n. a junky old car. I like my old beater even if it has no bumpers.

boy-beater

n. a sleeveless shirt or undershirt allegedly for women or homosexuals. (From the wife-beater.) They sat there looking macho in their tints and boy-beater.

egg-beater

1. n. an outboard boat motor. My egg-beater has been acting up, so I didn’t go out on the lake today.
2. n. a helicopter. (see also rotorhead.) The egg-beater landed on the hospital roof.

wife-beater

n. a sleeveless undershirt. (see also boy-beater.) He always wears wife-beaters with no outer shirt.

world-beater

n. an aggressive and ambitious person. They hired an alleged world-beater to manage the office.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
See also:
References in periodicals archive
7 -- Breakfast -- Lumberjack; Lunch -- Bosco cheese stick, ham/tky Cobb salad, hot dog, fuel buzzer beater basket, corn/celery, fresh fruit/applesauce, milk
'Beaters', he stated, were those who were part of 'special police' of the police station concerned and they acted on behalf of the SHO.
"People aren't calling it a wife beater because they believe that beating your wife is OK," Adam Klein, an assistant professor of communication studies at Pace University, told me.
Generally, the main duties of a panel beater will be to assess vehicles to determine the extent of the damage, remove damaged panels, and refit new or repaired panels.
"Not only will they continue to receive the great content across our networks, but also the added value of accessing that content on digital platforms with our WATCH products, choosing when to watch them with video-on-demand services and a lineup of new channels including Fusion, the upcoming SEC Network launching on August 14, Longhorn Network, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Buzzer Beater and ESPN Bases Loaded."
World Beater delivers an interesting gameplay, quite different from a regular running game.
Altogether, approximately 70 services are covered by the broad scope of this agreement including ABC, ABC Family, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN 3D, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN Full Court, ESPN3, The Longhorn Network and retransmission consent for WABC-TV, KABC-TV, WLS-TV, KGO-TV, KTRK-TV, WTVD-TV and KFSN-TV, as well as more than 10 high-definition networks.
Accordingly, she is there to act as a "beater" and, to a lesser extent, a "picker up."
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In the traditional opener, with the table and the feeding roller, the material is clamped and delivered to the opening beater with a very strong acceleration, which can damage the fiber.
I enjoyed Richard Venola's "Beater Bolt Guns" in the February issue.
Designed exclusively for its stand mixer, officials for Benton Harbor, Mich.-based KitchenAid say the Flex Edge Beater blends ingredients quickly and thoroughly while minimizing the need to manually scrape the sides of the bowl while mixing.
Not only would the hair wrap around the beater bar (typical and to be expected) it tangled around the internal gears and caused the vacuum to make terrible noises.
By casually and ignorantly trying to decree a heroic and iconic status on a man such as Moat - a wife beater, child beater, bully and killer - insults our nation as well as its real heroes and heroines.
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