ˈbeatenest, a. U.S. dial.
Also beatin'est, -enes'.
[f. beaten ppl. a. or beating pres. pple. of beat v.1 + -est suffix.]
Most excellent or splendid; most unusual.
| 1860 Harper's Mag. 135 A countryman..attracted by the white slab..exclaimed, ‘Well, if this ain't the beatenest town I ever saw!’ 1874 E. Eggleston Circuit Rider 147, I reckon I am the beatin'est man to ax questions in this neck of timber. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xiii. 114 It's the beatenest thing I ever struck. 1889 Harper's Mag. Dec. 120/1 Thet thar rock house o' his'n,..I 'low it's the beatenes' house in creation. 1909 ‘E. C. Hall’ Aunt Jane of Kentucky ii. 33 Of the preachers that ever I heard, he certainly is the beatenest. |