babbitt
[ bab-it ]
/ ˈbæb ɪt /
|
noun
a bearing or lining of Babbitt metal.
adjective
pertaining to or made of Babbitt metal.
verb (used with object)
to line, face, or furnish with Babbitt metal.
Nearby words
- babassu,
- babassu oil,
- babbage,
- babbage, charles,
- babbitry,
- babbitt metal,
- babbitt, irving,
- babbitt, milton,
- babbittry,
- babble
Origin of babbitt
First recorded in 1900–05; short for Babbitt metal
Babbitt
[ bab-it ]
/ ˈbæb ɪt /
noun
Irving,1865–1933, U.S. educator and critic.
Milton Byron,1916–2011, U.S. composer.
(italics) a novel (1922) by Sinclair Lewis.
(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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for babbitt
babbitt
/ (ˈbæbɪt) /
verb
(tr) to line (a bearing) or face (a surface) with Babbitt metal or a similar soft alloy
Babbitt
/ (ˈbæbɪt) /
noun
US derogatory a narrow-minded and complacent member of the middle class
Word Origin for Babbitt
C20: after George Babbitt, central character in the novel Babbitt (1922) by Sinclair Lewis
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Babbitt
"conventional, complacent, materialistic American businessman," 1923, from George Babbitt, title character of Sinclair Lewis' novel (1922).
His name was George F. Babbitt. He was forty-six years old now, in April 1920, and he made nothing in particular, neither butter nor shoes nor poetry, but he was nimble in the selling of houses for more money than people could afford to pay. [Sinclair Lewis, "Babbitt," 1922]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Babbitt
(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!”
Note
By extension, a “Babbitt” is a narrow-minded, materialistic businessman.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.