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• babbitt
  babbitt

  noun

  Babbitt metal.
• Babbitt
  Babbitt

  noun

  Irving, 1865–1933, U.S. educator and critic.

babbitt

¹ American  

[bab-it] / ˈbæb ɪt /

noun

1. Babbitt metal.

2. a bearing or lining of Babbitt metal.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or made of Babbitt metal.

verb (used with object)

1. to line, face, or furnish with Babbitt metal.

Babbitt ² American  

[bab-it] / ˈbæb ɪt /

noun

1. Irving, 1865–1933, U.S. educator and critic.

2. Milton Byron, 1916–2011, U.S. composer.

3. (italics) a novel (1922) by Sinclair Lewis.

4. (often lowercase) a self-satisfied person who conforms readily to conventional, middle-class ideas and ideals, especially of business and material success; Philistine: from the main character in the novel by Sinclair Lewis.

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babbitt ¹ British  

/ ˈbæbɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to line (a bearing) or face (a surface) with Babbitt metal or a similar soft alloy

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Babbitt ² British  

/ ˈbæbɪt /

noun

1. derogatory a narrow-minded and complacent member of the middle class

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Babbitt Cultural  

1. (1922) A novel by Sinclair Lewis. The title character, an American real estate agent in a small city, is portrayed as a crass, loud, overoptimistic boor who thinks only about money and speaks in clichés, such as “You've gotta have pep, by golly!”

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By extension, a “Babbitt” is a narrow-minded, materialistic businessman.

Other Word Forms

• Babbittry
  noun

Etymology

Origin of babbitt

First recorded in 1900–05; short for Babbitt metal

Example Sentences

Last week this sleekest of ocean greyhounds nosed into Haifa, the port of call for Jerusalem, and one who is not a babbitt hastened ashore.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is not human nature to imagine yourself a nobody Babbitt doing any no-account and nasty business in any Middle Western babbitt warren.

From Time Magazine Archive

Advantages, claimed in a Du Pont patent: no lubrication required; less friction, vibration, heat; longer wear and ability to carry heavier loads than bearings made of bronze, brass, babbitt metal.

From Time Magazine Archive

Naturally Monsignor Seipel, Chancellor of Austria did not trumpet his proposal, last week, like a blatant babbitt.

From Time Magazine Archive

Heat the babbitt well, but not hot enough to burn it, and it is well to have the shaft hot, too, so that the babbitt will not be chilled when it strikes the shaft.

From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.