beagle

From Middle English *begel (begles (plural)), of uncertain origin. Possibly a corruption of Middle English bedel (“beadle”) in the sense of "constable, detective" (for change of d compare Middle English bugge from Old English budda; Middle English -inge from -inde; etc.); or alternatively from Middle French beegueule (“one who keeps their mouth open”), whence modern French bégueule (“a colloquial insult said to women of low status and accused of stupidity, who always have their mouths gaped or open; a prude”); from Old French beer, bayer (“to gape, gawk”) + Old French gueule (“gullet”). The modern French bigle (“beagle”) however is a borrowing from the English.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɡəl/, [ˈb̥iːɡəɫ]

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːɡəl

beagle (plural beagles)

1. A small short-legged smooth-coated scenthound, often tricolored and sometimes used for hunting hares. Its friendly disposition makes it suitable as a family pet.
2. A person who snoops on others; a detective.
   • 2002, Susan Isaacs, Long Time No See, page 243:

     […] whereas burying a body in the wooded area beyond the backyard was the quickest way to make a Nassau County Police Department beagle look good.

3. A bailiff.
4. A small kind of shark.

beagle (third-person singular simple present beagles, present participle beagling, simple past and past participle beagled)

1. To hunt with beagles.
   • 1933, Charles Pascoe Hawkes, Heydays: a salad of memories and impressions, page 20:

     […] reading men who beagled for fresh air and exercise, impecunious hunting men who beagled for economy […]

2. To search.
   • 1997, Fletcher Pratt, A Short History of the Civil War: Ordeal by Fire, page 150:

     […] Pope clapped his hand to his forehead and beagled like a maniac; he had clean forgotten Thorofare Gap.

• Belgae, glebae

Borrowed from English beagle.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɡəl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bea‧gle

beagle m (plural beagles, diminutive beagletje n)

1. beagle (hound)

• belage

From English beagle.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɡl/, [ˈbiːɡl]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɡle/, [ˈbiːɡle̞]

beagle

1. beagle (dog)

compounds

• beagle-harrier
• elizabethinbeagle
• kerrynbeagle
• taskubeagle

• “beagle”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

• IPA^(key): /biɡl/

beagle m (plural beagles)

1. beagle (dog)

Unadapted borrowing from English beagle.

• IPA^(key): /biɡl/
• Rhymes: -iɡl
• Syllabification: beagle

beagle m animal

1. beagle (small short-legged smooth-coated scenthound, often tricolored and sometimes used for hunting hares)

• beagle in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• beagle in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• beagle in PWN's encyclopedia

beagle m or f by sense (plural beagles)

1. beagle (small breed of dog)

beagle m (plural beagles)

1. beagle