head beetler

English

Noun

head beetler (plural head beetlers)

  1. (archaic, UK, dialect) The leader of a group of workmen.
    • 1920, Seumas MacManus, Top o' the Mornin', page 161:
      The line of flunkies, like a rijiment of tin men workin' on strings, all together threw up their hands in horror, a look on their face like someone stole their last penny, and the head beetler of them, bowin' till his three ends met, said, […]
    • 2016, Patrick Deeley, The Hurley Maker's Son:
      Later Mattie, the 'head beetler' of my father's family, arrived wearing his customary tweed jacket.

References
  • John Camden Hotten (1873) “the bully of the workshop, who lords it over his fellow-workmen by reason of superior strength, skill in fighting, etc. Sometimes applied to the foreman.”, in The Slang Dictionary
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.