ˈbēd.ə(r), -ētə noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English beter, from beten to beat + -er
1. : one that beats: as
a. : a plasterer's staff for beating mortar
b. : a tool for packing tamping on a charge of powder in a blasthole
c. : maul
d. : a device like a fan placed at the back of the cylinder in a grain thresher for directing straw to straw racks
e. : down-beater
f. : an attachment to the discharge end of a manure spreader for pulverizing the manure as it passes from the spreader
g. : the part of a flail that strikes the grain in threshing
h. : a revolving cylinder bearing chains or flails that chop up standing cornstalks, potato vines, brush, or sugar-beet tops
i. : a tailor's paddle used in pressing
j. : a kitchen utensil used for beating, stirring, or whipping
k. : a device on a cotton picker or opener for separating raw cotton
l. : a knife for breaking flax or hemp
m. : the lay of a loom for driving the weft from the shed into the cloth
n. : a machine consisting essentially of a tank equipped with adjustable cutting elements between which paper stock passes to be cut or beaten and in which coloring, loading, and sizing are sometimes done — compare hollander
o. : a heavy iron for beating basketwork into compactness
p. : a worker who spreads filler material evenly in quilts or mattresses
2.
a. : one that beats up game in hunting
engaged a native beater
b. : an advance publicity agent
3. in Newfoundland : a young harp seal on its first journey northward from the breeding area