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Babbitt
Definitions
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. countable, uncountable
- 1 Ellipsis of babbitt metal or Babbitt metal (“a soft white alloy of variable composition used in bearings to diminish friction”). abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
"Running while low on oil had galled the babbitt."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Babbitt (“a person who subscribes complacently to materialistic middle-class ideals”). US, alt-of, dated
"One speaks of a babbitt habit, a babbitt era. Nothing is more true. America recognized itself in Babbitt, it demurred, but it also admired."
- 3 A person who subscribes complacently to materialistic middle-class ideals. US, dated
"A Babbitt met a Bromide on the avenue one day. They held a conversation in their own peculiar way."
- 4 Alternative letter-case form of babbitt (“a soft white alloy of variable composition (for example, nine parts of tin to one of copper, or fifty parts of tin to five of antimony and one of copper) used in bearings to diminish friction”). alt-of, countable, dated, uncountable
"Figure 2 represents a top plan of the "Babbitting" jig, placed in or upon a cast-iron frame, preparatory to the pouring or casting of the "Babbitt" or other soft metal on to or around its journals, to form journal bearings in said cast-iron frame."
- 5 an alloy of tin with some copper and antimony; a lining for bearings that reduces friction wordnet
- 1 To line (something) with babbitt metal to reduce friction. transitive
"The main bearings were babbitted and line-bored."
- 2 line with a Babbitt metal wordnet
Etymology
The noun is derived from Babbitt, the surname of the American inventor Isaac Babbitt (1799–1862) who invented the alloy. The verb is derived from the noun.
The noun is derived from Babbitt, the surname of the American inventor Isaac Babbitt (1799–1862) who invented the alloy. The verb is derived from the noun.
From Babbitt, the surname of George Babbitt, the title character of the novel Babbitt (1922) by the American author Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951). The word was also popularized by the George (1898–1937) and Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) song “The Babbitt and the Bromide”, first featured in the 1927 musical Funny Face and later in the film Ziegfeld Follies (1945).
From the surname of George Babbitt, the title character of the novel Babbitt (1922) by the American author Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951). The word was also popularized by the George (1898–1937) and Ira Gershwin (1896–1983) song “The Babbitt and the Bromide”, first featured in the 1927 musical Funny Face and later in the film Ziegfeld Follies (1945).
See babbitt.
See also for "babbitt"
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