beautywasht (butiwosh)

A cosmetic. beaux, n. Plural of beau. beauxite, n. See bauxite. beaver1 (bē'ver), n. and a. [Early mod. E. also beavor, bever, It. bevero = Sp. bibaro = Pr. vibre = F. bièvre ) = Gael. beabhar = Corn. befr = OBulg. bebră, bibrů, bobră, Bohem. Pol. bobr = Ru . bobrŭ = Lith. bebrus Lett. bebris, OPru . bebrus, a beaver, = Skt. babhru, a large ichneumon; as adj., brown, tawny; perhaps a redupl. of " bhru, the ult. root of AS. brün, E. brown: see brown.] I. n. 1. A rodent quadruped, about two feet in length, of the family Castoridæ and genus Castor, C. fiber, at one time common in the northern regions of both hemispheres, now found in considerable numbers only in North America, but occurring solitary in central Europe and Asia. It has short ears, a blunt nose, small fore feet, large webbed hind feet, with a flat ovate tail covered with scales on its upper surface. It is valued for its fur (which used to be largely employed in the manufacture of hats, but for which silk is now for the most part substituted) and for an odoriferous secretion named castor or castoreum (which see). beaver Its food consists of the bark of trees, leaves, roots, and berries. The favorite haunts of the beavers are rivers and lakes which are bordered by forests. When they find a stream not sufficiently deep for their purpose, they throw acro it a dam constructed with great ingenuity of wood, stones, and mud, gnawing down small trees for the purpose, and compacting the mud by blows of their powerful tails. In winter they live in houses, which are from 3 to 4 feet high, are built on the water's edge with subaqueous entrances, and afford them protection from wolves and other wild animals. They formerly abounded throughout northern America, but are now found only in unsettled or thinly populated regions. Several slightly different varieties of the European beaver have received special names. The North American beaver is somewhat larger than the European, and exhibits some slight cranial peculiarities; IMG:content-1821.png:[blocks in formation] II. a . Made of beaver or of the fur of the beaver: as, a beaver hat; beaver gloves.