beefeater
Americannoun
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a yeoman of the English royal guard or a warder of the Tower of London.
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Informal. an Englishman.
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a person who eats beef.
noun
Etymology
Origin of beefeater
First recorded in 1600–10; beef + eat ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Chief beefeater Peter McGowren says it's the quietest the tower ever has been.
From Fox News ● May 21, 2020
The tradition of tall tales spun by the yeoman warder, or beefeater, guides is as old as the Line of Kings itself.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 7, 2013
Then, with a sweep of his arm toward a tower crusted with raven droppings, the "beefeater" remarked: "And there are some of the results of Lend-Lease."
From Time Magazine Archive
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As the ruddy little Crispin who becomes Lord Mayor of London, Whitford Kane personifies all the industry, sanity and lustiness of a jolly beefeater.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The beefeater before the door of the Lady Mary's lodgings spat upon the ground when he had passed.
From The Fifth Queen And How She Came to Court by Ford, Ford Madox
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.