See wifebeater in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for wifebeater meaning in English (6.6kB)
{
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"1": "en",
"2": "wife",
"3": "beater"
},
"expansion": "wife + beater",
"name": "compound"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From wife + beater. The sleeveless shirt acquired the nickname by association with men who commit domestic violence. The lager, being relatively strong, was thought to lead to drunken disputes.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wifebeaters",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
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},
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"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "wife-beating question"
}
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{
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "2020 November 2, “Johnny Depp loses libel case against Sun over claims he beat ex-wife Amber Heard”, in The Guardian",
"text": "Depp, 57, had sued the Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article published in the Sun that originally carried the headline “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"One who (usually as a repeated practice) beats his wife, or a husband prone to violence."
],
"id": "en-wifebeater-en-noun-tyRonuj2",
"links": [
[
"beat",
"beat"
],
[
"wife",
"wife"
],
[
"prone",
"prone"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "90 4 6",
"sense": "one who beats one’s wife",
"word": "abusive husband"
}
],
"tags": [
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{
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{
"_dis": "15 53 32",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Clothing",
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"All topics",
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{
"_dis": "37 23 40",
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"source": "w+disamb"
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],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2008 August 28, Simon Mills, “Vested interest”, in The Guardian",
"text": "So, at the first sign of any sunny weather, overweight males all over the country are drawn to their \"wifebeaters\" like footy fans to the digibox, with every lager-drinking dad labouring under the illusion that he looks like that gardener from Desperate Housewives in his black vest.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A type of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt."
],
"id": "en-wifebeater-en-noun-uFvcnp~P",
"links": [
[
"sleeveless",
"sleeveless"
],
[
"shirt",
"shirt"
],
[
"undershirt",
"undershirt"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US, colloquial) A type of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "4 91 5",
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "A-shirt"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 91 5",
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "athletic shirt"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 91 5",
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "beater"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 91 5",
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "muscle shirt"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 91 5",
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"tags": [
"Australia",
"UK"
],
"word": "singlet"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 91 5",
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "tank top"
},
{
"_dis1": "4 91 5",
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "vest"
}
],
"tags": [
"US",
"colloquial",
"countable",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
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{
"_dis": "16 18 66",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Beer",
"orig": "en:Beer",
"parents": [
"Alcoholic beverages",
"Beverages",
"Recreational drugs",
"Drinking",
"Food and drink",
"Liquids",
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],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2005, Conrad Williams, London Revenant",
"text": "And then we were walking back alleys, trudging through the drifts of chip papers, the bottles and empty cans of wifebeater[…]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Pete Brown, Three Sheets to the Wind",
"text": "But Stella shouldn't really be drunk in pints the same way our dads used to drink bitter or mild that was effectively half as strong. Drink Stella in goblets like people do in its native country and, hey presto! It's no longer 'wifebeater'.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Stella Artois, a brand of lager beer."
],
"id": "en-wifebeater-en-noun-kFdm3ejz",
"links": [
[
"lager",
"lager"
],
[
"beer",
"beer"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(uncountable, UK, colloquial) Stella Artois, a brand of lager beer."
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"colloquial",
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-wifebeater.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a9/En-au-wifebeater.ogg/En-au-wifebeater.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/En-au-wifebeater.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "wife beater"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0",
"word": "wife-beater"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
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],
"word": "wifebeater"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
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"English uncountable nouns",
"en:Beer",
"en:Clothing",
"en:People"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
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"1": "en",
"2": "wife",
"3": "beater"
},
"expansion": "wife + beater",
"name": "compound"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From wife + beater. The sleeveless shirt acquired the nickname by association with men who commit domestic violence. The lager, being relatively strong, was thought to lead to drunken disputes.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "wifebeaters",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
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},
"expansion": "wifebeater (countable and uncountable, plural wifebeaters)",
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],
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"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "wife-beating question"
}
],
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"categories": [
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],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2020 November 2, “Johnny Depp loses libel case against Sun over claims he beat ex-wife Amber Heard”, in The Guardian",
"text": "Depp, 57, had sued the Sun’s publisher, News Group Newspapers (NGN), and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an article published in the Sun that originally carried the headline “Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be ‘genuinely happy’ casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"One who (usually as a repeated practice) beats his wife, or a husband prone to violence."
],
"links": [
[
"beat",
"beat"
],
[
"wife",
"wife"
],
[
"prone",
"prone"
]
],
"tags": [
"countable",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English colloquialisms",
"English terms with quotations"
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "2008 August 28, Simon Mills, “Vested interest”, in The Guardian",
"text": "So, at the first sign of any sunny weather, overweight males all over the country are drawn to their \"wifebeaters\" like footy fans to the digibox, with every lager-drinking dad labouring under the illusion that he looks like that gardener from Desperate Housewives in his black vest.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A type of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt."
],
"links": [
[
"sleeveless",
"sleeveless"
],
[
"shirt",
"shirt"
],
[
"undershirt",
"undershirt"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US, colloquial) A type of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"colloquial",
"countable",
"uncountable"
]
},
{
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"English uncountable nouns"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2005, Conrad Williams, London Revenant",
"text": "And then we were walking back alleys, trudging through the drifts of chip papers, the bottles and empty cans of wifebeater[…]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Pete Brown, Three Sheets to the Wind",
"text": "But Stella shouldn't really be drunk in pints the same way our dads used to drink bitter or mild that was effectively half as strong. Drink Stella in goblets like people do in its native country and, hey presto! It's no longer 'wifebeater'.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Stella Artois, a brand of lager beer."
],
"links": [
[
"lager",
"lager"
],
[
"beer",
"beer"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(uncountable, UK, colloquial) Stella Artois, a brand of lager beer."
],
"tags": [
"UK",
"colloquial",
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-wifebeater.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a9/En-au-wifebeater.ogg/En-au-wifebeater.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/En-au-wifebeater.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"sense": "one who beats one’s wife",
"word": "abusive husband"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "A-shirt"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "athletic shirt"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "beater"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "muscle shirt"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"tags": [
"Australia",
"UK"
],
"word": "singlet"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "tank top"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "vest"
},
{
"word": "wife beater"
},
{
"word": "wife-beater"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Green's Dictionary of Slang"
],
"word": "wifebeater"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.