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Babbitt

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
Bab·bitt  (bbt)
n.
A narrow-minded, self-satisfied person with an unthinking attachment to middle-class values and materialism.

[After George F. Babbitt, the main character in the novel Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.]

Babbitt·ry n.

Babbitt, Irving 1865-1933.
American humanist and scholar whose New Humanism movement sought to revive interest in classical virtues in literary criticism.

Babbitt, Milton Byron Born 1916.
American composer whose works, including Vision and Prayer (1961) for soprano and synthesizer, combine serial music and electronic effects.

babbitt [ˈbæbɪt]
vb
(Engineering / Mechanical Engineering) (tr) to line (a bearing) or face (a surface) with Babbitt metal or a similar soft alloy

Babbitt [ˈbæbɪt]
n
US derogatory a narrow-minded and complacent member of the middle class
[after George Babbitt, central character in the novel Babbitt (1922) by Sinclair Lewis]
Babbittry  n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.Babbittbabbitt - an alloy of tin with some copper and antimony; a lining for bearings that reduces friction
alloy, metal - a mixture containing two or more metallic elements or metallic and nonmetallic elements usually fused together or dissolving into each other when molten; "brass is an alloy of zinc and copper"
Verb1.babbitt - line with a Babbitt metal
line - cover the interior of; "line the gloves"; "line a chimney"


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Louis Untermeyer, Theodore Tyler, Natalie Babbitt, Patricia McKissack and others all share the limelight with powerful creations kids will relish.
He cites the influence of the British statesman Edmund Burke and the American humanist educators Irving Babbitt and Paul Elmer More upon Kirk, and in doing so he demonstrates how Kirk's conservative philosophy was shaped.
And though some aspects of the book have not worn well--today's reader, well-versed in the ironies of American middle-class life, will likely find its depiction of Babbitt and his socioeconomic environs wooden and unconvincing--Lewis could not have chosen a better career to embody 1920s middle-class anxiety.
 
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