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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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Discover More

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

"Technicolor" is the process with which this picture paints Zane Grey in hues like unto none he ever dreamed of conveying to the babbitt consciousness.

From Time Magazine Archive

Varying proportions of copper and tin give gun metal, bell metal, babbitt metal and many another alloy, the greater the percentage of tin the harder being the resulting composition.

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

When it has cooled, remove the cardboard, take down the crosspieces, and drill a 1/8-in. hole from the top of the crosspieces through the babbitt for an oil-hole.

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