beaver
“on—With his,”
1 HENRY IV., iv. 1. 104
;
“through a rusty beaver peeps,”
HENRY V., iv. 2. 44
;
“I cleft his beaver,”
3 HENRY VI., i. 1. 12
;
“is my beaver easier,”
RICHARD III., v. 3. 50
;
“in a gold beaver,”
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, i. 3.
296
;
“his beaver up,”
HAMLET, i. 2. 229
;
“their beavers down,”
2 HENRY IV., iv. 1. 120.
“The beaver of a
helmet is frequently used by writers, improperly enough, to express the helmet itself. It
is in reality the lower part of it, adapted to the purpose of giving the wearer [by
raising it up] an opportunity of taking breath when oppressed with heat, or, without
putting off the helmet, of taking his repast”
(DOUCE)
.