eager beavern.adj.
/ˌiːɡə ˈbiːvə/, U.S. /ˌiɡər ˈbivər/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
A. n.
A keen and enthusiastic person (originally, a cadet) who works very hard.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > [noun] > one who engages in an activity or occupation > one who is not idle or slothful
bee1535
worker1624
one of the world's workers1851
grafter1900
eager beaver1942
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > acting in another's business or intervention > [noun] > being a busybody or officiousness > a busybody
busybody1526
busyhead1555
stiffler1566
Jack-stickler1579
pragmatical1593
polypragmon1596
polypragmonist1609
polypragmist1613
factotum1618
ardelio1624
polypragmatist1631
pragmatic1634
polypragmatic1636
pragmatist1640
stickler1702
gad1756
pantopragmatic1860
butterinsky1902
eager beaver1942
1942 San Antonio (Texas) Light 6 Dec. vii. 7/6 ‘Eager beavers’ are those aviation cadets in preflight school at San Antonio Aviation Cadet center who most apply themselves to the important tasks in ground school and on the drill fields.
1945 Amer. Speech 20 148/1 Eager beaver, a soldier who is so anxious to impress his superiors that he volunteers for every job that offers, or otherwise displays unusual diligence.
1947 Sat. Evening Post 16 Aug. 122/1 Before photostating my application, some eager beaver..helpfully typed the address.
1959 Observer 24 May 27/8 The British pack were like a set of eager beavers.
1984 Eng. Jrnl. 73 72/1 There is always an eager beaver who begs to do sound effects.
2015 Daily Express 22 May 34/3 Eager beaver Casey and curmudgeonly recluse Frank realise that they are going to have to work together.
B. adj. (attributive). Frequently hyphenated.
That is an eager beaver; resembling, or characteristic of an eager beaver.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > [adjective] > not slothful
unsweera1500
unidlea1586
unslothful1648
straight-backed1859
eager beaver1948
1948 Time 5 July 1/1 It would be futile to play that game against Republican Earl Warren, one of the foremost spokesmen of the eager-beaver West.
1959 Spectator 29 May 753/1 Well-meaning state social workers..and eager-beaver politicos lavish with praise and perquisites, are not helping him.
1988 D. French Working (1991) vii. 198 Some eager-beaver security guards stopped any unaccompanied woman entering the hotel late at night.
1998 Touch July 60/2 Short Dick compensates for his deficiencies with an eager beaver attitude.
2013 C. C. Bowker It took Bullet xvi. 113 There sat..an eager-beaver reporter beside her, ready to crucify me if I didn't come through.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1942