How do you use the word "beaver" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "beaver": He is an eager beaver. An oil leak was contained by a beaver dam in Alberta.

Beaver Meaning

/ˈbiːvə/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA semiaquatic rodent of the genus Castor, having a wide, flat tail and webbed feet, native to the Northern Hemisphere.

nounThe fur of the beaver.

Sentence Examples

He is an eager beaver.

An oil leak was contained by a beaver dam in Alberta.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The busy little ____ built a dam across the stream using sticks and mud.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The ____ is a hardworking animal that builds dams across the rivers city.

Word Origin & History

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.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"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:

"a broad beaver slouched over his eyes" — 1855–1858, 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:

"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:

"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:

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