head beetler
English
Noun
head beetler (plural head beetlers)
- (archaic, Britain, dialect) The leader of a group of workmen.
- 1920, Seumas MacManus, Top o' the Mornin' (page 161)
- The line of flunkies, like a rijiment of tin men workin' on strings, all together threw up their hands in horror, a look on their face like someone stole their last penny, and the head beetler of them, bowin' till his three ends met, said, […]
- 2016, Patrick Deeley, The Hurley Maker's Son
- Later Mattie, the 'head beetler' of my father's family, arrived wearing his customary tweed jacket.
- 1920, Seumas MacManus, Top o' the Mornin' (page 161)
References
- 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary: "the bully of the workshop, who lords it over his fellow-workmen by reason of superior strength, skill in fighting, etc. Sometimes applied to the foreman."