beater (beter)

1. One who beats: as, a carpet- beater; a drum- beater. Euen the wisest of your great beaters do as oft punishe nature as they do correcte faultes. Ascham, The Scholemaster, p. 32. 2. In hunting, one who rouses or beats up game. When the beaters came up we found that the bag con sisted of five red-deer - namely, one small stag and four hinds. J. Baker , Turkey, p. 369. 3. That which beats or is used in beating. Specifically- ( a ) In basket - making, a heavy iron used for beating the work close, or compacting it. (b) In cotton manuf., a machine for cleaning and opening the cotton preparatory to carding. This is accomplished by beating the cotton, as it is fed through rolls, by horizontal blades attached to an axle revolving with great rapid. ity. (c) The jack of a knitting-machine. (d) A mallet used in hat-making. (e) A tool for packing powder in a blast-hole. (1) A scutching-blade for breaking flax or hemp. (g) In weaving, the lathe or batten of a loom: so named because it drives the weft into the shed, and makes the fabric more compact.