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betty


  1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Betty  \Bet"ty\,  n. 
  1.  [Supposed  to  be  a  cant  word  from  Betty,  for  Elizabeth,  as 
  such  an  instrument  is  also  called  Bess  (i.  e.,  Elizabeth) 
  in  the  Canting  Dictionary  of  1725,  and  Jenny  (i.  e., 
  Jane).]  A  short  bar  used  by  thieves  to  wrench  doors  open 
  [Written  also  {bettee}.] 
 
  The  powerful  betty,  or  the  artful  picklock. 
  --Arbuthnot. 
 
  2.  [Betty,  nickname  for  Elizabeth.]  A  name  of  contempt  given 
  to  a  man  who  interferes  with  the  duties  of  women  in  a 
  household,  or  who  occupies  himself  with  womanish  matters. 
 
  3.  A  pear-shaped  bottle  covered  round  with  straw,  in  which 
  olive  oil  is  sometimes  brought  from  Italy;  --  called  by 
  chemists  a  Florence  flask.  [U.  S.]  --Bartlett. 




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