beetle3

 
Pronunciation: /ˈbiːt(ə)l/

verb

[no object] (usually as adjective beetling)
  • (of a rock or a person’s eyebrows) project or overhang: his eyebrows beetled with irritation

adjective

[attributive]
  • (of a person’s eyebrows) shaggy and projecting: thick beetle brows

Derivatives

beetle-browed

adjective

Origin:

mid 16th century (as an adjective): back-formation from beetle-browed, first recorded in Middle English. The verb was apparently used as a nonce word by Shakespeare and was later adopted by other writers