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babbitt

bab·bitt

UK/ˈbæbət/ US/ˈbæbɪt/ rare dated us

noun

1.

an alloy of tin with some copper and antimony; a lining for bearings that reduces friction

verb

1.

line with a Babbitt metal

Origin

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).

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Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.