beagle
Plural: beagles
Noun
- A small, sturdy hound with a keen sense of smell.
- a small short-legged smooth-coated breed of hound
- A small short-legged smooth-coated scenthound, often tricolored and sometimes used for hunting hares. Its friendly disposition makes it suitable as a family pet.
- A person who snoops on others; a detective.
- A bailiff.
- A small kind of shark.
Verb
- To hunt with beagles.
- To search.
Examples
- She could beagle out any possible bingo from a rack of seemingly random letters.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English *begel (begles (plural)), of uncertain origin. Possibly a corruption of Middle English bedel (“beadle”) in the sense of "constable, detective" (for change of d compare Middle English bugge from Old English budda; Middle English -inge from -inde; etc.); or alternatively from Middle French beegueule (“one who keeps their mouth open”), whence modern French bégueule (“a colloquial insult said to women of low status and accused of stupidity, who always have their mouths gaped or open; a prude”); from Old French beer, bayer (“to gape, gawk”) + Old French gueule (“gullet”). The modern French bigle (“beagle”) however is a borrowing from the English.
Scrabble Score: 9
beagle: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordbeagle: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
beagle: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary