Sekirov Dictionary

betty

/ˈbɛti/

noun 7
verb 2
forms 4

noun7

•
A baked dessert made with alternating layers of sweetened fruit and buttered bread crumbs.
- A pie-size betty is traditional, but if you like, assemble the recipe in individual ovenproof ramekins. — 2021
(slang) An attractive woman; a babe.
(slang, offensive) A girl who hangs out with skateboarders or surfers.
•
(slang) A short bar used by thieves to wrench doors open; a jimmy.
- No modern Lycaeum vvill ever equal thy Glory, […] describing the povverful Betty, or the artful Picklock, […] — 1712
(slang) A picklock, skeleton key; a tool for opening locks.
(offensive, no longer used) A man who performs tasks that traditionally belong to a woman; (originally) an effeminate or gay man.
•
(US, no longer used) A pear-shaped bottle covered with straw, in which olive oil is sometimes brought from Italy; a Florence flask.
- On olive oil in casks, twenty cents per gallon; olive salad oil in bottles or betties, thirty per centum ad valorem — 1841

verb2

•
To pick a lock, to open with a betty.
- The forty quid! Gone! ’Ow could she ’ave gotten in there? The peter ain’t broke, no sign of it bein’ bettied, and I the only one w’ the key. — 2013
•
(no longer used) To be overly attentive to someone or something.
- “I’m perfectly well, thank you, Miss Hester,” she said, coldly. “I detest being bettied.” — 1877

forms

bettied · bettying · betties · Betties

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